Provident Wealth Management LLC Buys 63 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Provident Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Provident Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised 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 acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $11,285,855,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $10.57 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $537.33. The stock had a trading volume of 13,462,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,375,996. The company has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $542.81. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $498.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $485.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,724,113. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 349,174 shares of company stock valued at $175,146,777. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Company 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.