Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Has $7.20 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 100.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,498 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,268 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $706.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total transaction of $298,418.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at $6,453,384. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $19,269,825.75. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 85,593 shares of company stock valued at $56,008,477. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of META stock traded up $19.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $702.12. 13,660,983 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,518,704. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $607.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $620.85.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.