Marotta Asset Management Purchases Shares of 4,869 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Marotta Asset Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,869 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the second quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,383 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,545,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Advance Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $220,000. Relative Value Partners Group LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 37.6% during the first quarter. Relative Value Partners Group LLC now owns 2,854 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $3,033,000. Finally, Narus Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $786,000. 62.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $311.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $302.04 and its 200 day moving average is $257.80. The company has a market cap of $802.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.33, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.09 and a 52 week high of $326.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The social networking company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.91 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 21.72%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 13.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $285.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $360.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $260.00 to $355.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, China Renaissance raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, forty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.79.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.34, for a total value of $205,247.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,542,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.19, for a total transaction of $3,258,780.17. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 91,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,052,209.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.34, for a total transaction of $205,247.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,542,891.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,179 shares of company stock valued at $12,474,820 in the last three months. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.