Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,691 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,829 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.8% of GAMMA Investing LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $1,162,918,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $1,025,052.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,834,277.94. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on META shares. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.52.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

META stock traded up $7.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $733.63. 18,758,104 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,544,681. The firm's 50-day moving average is $638.51 and its 200-day moving average is $626.52. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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