Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 32.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,343 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.0% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 255.9% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,001,044,000 after buying an additional 1,229,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,908,382,000 after buying an additional 110,040 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,753 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $700.43, for a total value of $1,928,283.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,970,116.17. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade 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 111,031 shares of company stock valued at $73,954,565 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded down $13.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $682.35. 22,498,010 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,512,174. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $618.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $623.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26. 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. Meta Platforms's revenue 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. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.