Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Boosted by Albert D Mason Inc.

Albert D Mason Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 32.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,539 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.8% of Albert D Mason Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Albert D Mason Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $10.49 on Friday, reaching $682.87. 9,259,272 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,501,078. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $604.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $619.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $704.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total value of $5,476,691.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,550,434.92. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837 in the last ninety days. 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.