FCG Investment Co Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

FCG Investment Co raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,611 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.5% of FCG Investment Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. FCG Investment Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,285,855,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total transaction of $503,908.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,954,472. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 315,770 shares of company stock valued at $157,719,910 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of META stock traded up $1.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $530.28. 3,848,759 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,343,741. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $498.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $485.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

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.