Financial Partners Group Inc Buys 887 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Financial Partners Group Inc has increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 35.4%, raising its holdings to 3,395 shares valued at nearly $1.96 million.
• Meta Platforms announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, yielding 0.29%, and had a net margin of 39.11% for the last quarter.
• The stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy", with an average price target of $752.33 among equity analysts.

Financial Partners Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 35.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,395 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period. Financial Partners Group Inc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC increased 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 worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased 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 worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $4.79 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $695.21. The stock had a trading volume of 26,166,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,688,610. The business has a 50-day moving average of $696.48 and a 200-day moving average of $643.47. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $450.80 and a one year high of $747.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $807.00 to $828.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $845.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight 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 target price of $754.07.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total transaction of $371,655.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,668,010.90. The trade was a 1.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock worth $105,335,225. 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.