Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s 7th Largest Position

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 712.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.4% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.10% of Meta Platforms worth $1,462,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $704.26.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total transaction of $298,418.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,272 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,453,384. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 86,201 shares of company stock worth $56,377,837. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $693.36. 7,303,916 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,503,798. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $597.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $617.62. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.