Equity Investment Corp Buys New Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Equity Investment Corp bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 574 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 153,473 shares of company stock valued at $105,805,440 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $714.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,905,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,708,539. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $691.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $640.92. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $795.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Pivotal Research lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.