Copeland Capital Management LLC Invests $11.58 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 20,091 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $11,580,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 151,405 shares of company stock valued at $103,444,041. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $719.29.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $5.65 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $713.57. 9,315,187 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,561,669. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $647.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $627.91. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.