Bensler LLC Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bensler LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,916 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the period. Bensler LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $4.89 on Tuesday, hitting $697.23. 9,594,121 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,513,907. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.26. The business's fifty day moving average is $610.13 and its 200 day moving average is $621.38.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $676.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $706.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total value of $373,901.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at $4,205,164.86. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 84,672 shares of company stock worth $55,455,647 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.