Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,115 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during 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 stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 124,223 shares of company stock worth $83,526,550. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $733.63 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $742.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $638.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $626.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for 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 revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $664.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $719.52.

Meta Platforms 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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