Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,651 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,919 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $13.00 on Wednesday, hitting $733.67. 2,886,586 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,452,141. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $665.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $631.83. The company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,756 shares of company stock worth $104,720,878 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $727.95.

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.