Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 643,546 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,472 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.4% of Arizona State Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $370,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $1.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $701.41. 11,776,575 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,365,357. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $681.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $636.39.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $812.00 target price (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $736.05.

About Meta Platforms

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.