Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 301,208 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,006 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.6% of Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $173,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $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 acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth 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. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $712.69.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $3.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $708.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,058,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,478,847. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $625.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $624.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,507,676.90. This represents a 8.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $700.38, for a total value of $350,190.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,119 shares in the company, valued at $59,615,645.22. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,002 shares of company stock worth $73,353,340. Corporate 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.