Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 566,597 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,690,000. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.2% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 513,283 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $181,682,000 after buying an additional 4,774 shares in the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 71,610 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $25,347,000 after purchasing an additional 6,150 shares in the last quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 42,951 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,203,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,102,000. Finally, Wallington Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 30,430 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,771,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total value of $503,908.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,954,472. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total transaction of $503,908.00. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 319,158 shares of company stock valued at $158,629,849. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of META stock traded up $8.14 on Friday, hitting $517.77. The stock had a trading volume of 13,684,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,487,600. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $495.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.