Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Calton & Associates Inc.

Calton & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1,756.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,325 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,661 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.9% of Calton & Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Calton & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 153,473 shares of company stock valued at $105,805,440. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $2.12 on Friday, reaching $712.68. 8,253,539 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,454,932. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $691.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $640.92. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's quarterly 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. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer upped their target price 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. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $752.33.

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.