Aviance Capital Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,412 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.8% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Aviance Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,756 shares of company stock valued at $104,720,878 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $720.67 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $665.58 and a 200-day moving average of $631.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Roth Capital upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $724.98.

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.

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