AGP Franklin LLC Takes $1.71 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• AGP Franklin LLC has acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms valued at approximately $1.71 million, purchasing 2,973 shares in the first quarter.
• Meta Platforms reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and its revenue reached $47.52 billion, marking a 21.6% increase from the same quarter last year.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently sold 13,793 shares of Meta's stock, worth about $9.67 million, leading to a 10.44% decrease in his position in the company.

AGP Franklin LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,973 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,714,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $750.01 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $450.80 and a 1 year high of $784.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $701.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $645.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $890.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $820.32.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 152,980 shares of company stock worth $105,708,832. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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