Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,224 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after buying an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $8.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $704.81. 8,873,115 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,295,060. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $686.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $638.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.50, for a total value of $370,947.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,892,632.50. This trade represents a 7.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,437 shares of company stock worth $105,068,570 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $748.60.

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.