Financial & Tax Architects LLC Purchases 640 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Financial & Tax Architects LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 30.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,731 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foresight Global Investors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,008,000. L & S Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.2% in the second quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 39,651 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $19,993,000 after purchasing an additional 7,474 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.4% during the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,383,000 after purchasing an additional 18,763 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $94,000. Finally, Connors Investor Services Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 28,028 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $559.10 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $505.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $496.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $562.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at $117,737,915.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 356,426 shares of company stock valued at $185,053,425 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.