Boston Trust Walden Corp Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 47.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,123 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,083 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $54,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,205,164.86. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.99, for a total transaction of $364,332.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,121,841.36. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,031 shares of company stock valued at $73,954,565. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. One investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $13.42 on Friday, hitting $682.35. The company had a trading volume of 22,498,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,512,174. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $618.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $623.14. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

About Meta Platforms

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.