GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 29.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,724 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 4,935 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.1% of GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lansing Street Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the first quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 847 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 30.7% during the first quarter. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,746 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,064,000 after buying an additional 1,350 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 20.4% during the first quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 4,616 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Lincoln Capital Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the first quarter. Lincoln Capital Corp now owns 1,511 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, RoundAngle Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 14.1% during the first quarter. RoundAngle Advisors LLC now owns 2,447 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,410,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 price target (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.29.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 154,285 shares of company stock valued at $105,518,153. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ META traded up $3.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $716.91. The stock had a trading volume of 8,601,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,544,817. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $658.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $630.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

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.