Advisory Alpha LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 27.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,005 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,914 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of META stock traded up $23.55 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $671.04. The company had a trading volume of 11,162,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,471,618. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $578.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $611.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total value of $298,418.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at $6,453,384. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,056 shares of company stock worth $35,074,903. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $701.05.
Get Our Latest Research Report on META
Meta Platforms Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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