American Financial & Tax Strategies Inc. Makes New $248,000 Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• American Financial & Tax Strategies Inc. invested approximately $248,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc., purchasing 430 shares during the first quarter.
• Insider sales increased as CFO Susan J. Li and CTO Andrew Bosworth sold significant portions of their Meta stock, indicating a combined decrease in ownership of over 94% for Bosworth.
• Meta Platforms reported strong Q1 earnings with $6.43 EPS, exceeding analyst estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

American Financial & Tax Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 430 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $4.79 on Wednesday, hitting $695.21. 26,166,475 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,688,610. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $696.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $643.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $450.80 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The company has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,461 shares of company stock worth $105,335,225 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $754.07.

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.