Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by CapWealth Advisors LLC

CapWealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 135.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,835 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total value of $370,952.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,263,653.36. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total value of $374,494.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,559,597.99. The trade was a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 153,792 shares of company stock valued at $105,466,325. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

META stock traded down $9.73 during midday trading 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $674.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $634.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 price objective (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Pivotal Research cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $729.38.

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.