Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by First Foundation Advisors

Key Points

• First Foundation Advisors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7%, acquiring an additional 364 shares, bringing its total holdings to 22,298 shares valued at approximately $12.85 million.
• Meta Platforms received an upgraded price target from analysts, with Cantor Fitzgerald raising the target from $828.00 to $920.00 and multiple firms maintaining a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• In recent insider transactions, CFO Susan J. Li and CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold significant portions of their shares, resulting in notable decreases in their ownership stakes.

First Foundation Advisors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,298 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total transaction of $369,655.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,136,275. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total value of $373,607.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,392,423. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on META. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. TD Securities dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $8.86 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $772.32. The company had a trading volume of 6,761,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,572,382. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $707.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $648.07. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

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.