Sweeney & Michel LLC Acquires New Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sweeney & Michel LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,626 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total transaction of $370,272.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,904,886. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $1.46 on Thursday, reaching $689.41. 5,382,290 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,481,616. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $583.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $613.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

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.