Clark Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,591 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Clark Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 85.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,460 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,591 shares during the period. Clark Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3%

META stock traded up $2.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $720.67. 7,751,333 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,497,486. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $747.90. The firm's 50 day moving average is $662.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $631.21. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective 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. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $724.98.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total transaction of $383,081.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,818,837.41. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,756 shares of company stock valued at $104,720,878. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.