Financial Counselors Inc. Purchases 9,379 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,473 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 9,379 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Financial Counselors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $75,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,263,653.36. This represents a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total transaction of $374,494.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,559,597.99. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 153,792 shares of company stock worth $105,466,325 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on META. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $729.38.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ META traded down $9.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $717.51. The company had a trading volume of 10,855,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,898,584. The company's fifty day moving average is $672.36 and its 200-day moving average is $633.41. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. 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 company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

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.