Sunbelt Securities Inc. Purchases 3,799 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 39.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,445 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,799 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.7% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $567.36 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $577.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $516.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $499.63.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total value of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 328,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 328,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $231,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,152,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 325,656 shares of company stock valued at $171,028,659. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Profile

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.