Advisors Preferred LLC Invests $3.22 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, purchasing 5,500 shares valued at approximately $3.2 million during the first quarter.
• Meta Platforms has seen a significant increase in shares bought by institutional investors, with approximately 79.91% of the stock currently owned by these entities.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting an EPS of $6.43 and revenue of $42.31 billion, up 16.1% year-over-year.

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,500 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,223,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 12.0%

META stock traded up $83.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $778.37. The company had a trading volume of 24,533,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,531,312. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $450.80 and a 52 week high of $784.75. The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $696.48 and a 200 day moving average of $643.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $801.57.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,461 shares of company stock worth $105,335,225. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms 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.