Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Buys 654 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,224 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 654 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st 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 stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 712.2% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their price objective 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. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $752.33.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.3%

Meta Platforms stock traded up $8.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $713.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,633,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,270,516. 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 has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $686.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $638.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 152,437 shares of company stock valued at $105,068,570. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.