Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,706 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,289,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $2.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $699.27. The company had a trading volume of 7,718,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,340,713. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $683.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $637.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $736.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.50, for a total value of $370,947.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,892,632.50. This represents a 7.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $375,278.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,225,251.04. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.