Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,992 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 4,778 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.2% of Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aries Wealth Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 9,462 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,454,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 32,365 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $18,654,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 2,272 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. David J Yvars Group lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 163.2% in the 1st quarter. David J Yvars Group now owns 4,372 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Finally, Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.2% in the first quarter. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total value of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,205,164.86. The trade was a 8.17% 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total value of $552,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. This trade represents a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 85,593 shares of company stock worth $56,008,477. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of META opened at $682.87 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $604.07 and a 200 day moving average of $619.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $676.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $704.26.

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.

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