Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC Invests $247,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 429 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,881 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,813,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,521 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 15,013 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 367.8% during the 1st quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,216 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,006,000 after purchasing an additional 4,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,445 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,596,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $704.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. This trade represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $10.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $682.87. The stock had a trading volume of 9,259,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,521,911. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $604.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $619.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.