Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by BXM Wealth LLC

BXM Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 89.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,155 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the quarter. BXM Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on META shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $729.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $9.73 on Friday, hitting $717.51. 10,855,962 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,460,014. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $674.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $634.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28.

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. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for 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%. The company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total value of $370,952.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,263,653.36. This trade represents a 6.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 153,792 shares of company stock worth $105,466,325 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.