Hartline Investment Corp Acquires 6,009 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hartline Investment Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,623 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.8% of Hartline Investment Corp's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Hartline Investment Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. 4J Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.7% during the first quarter. 4J Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. 44 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 56.5% during the first quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. Spear Holdings RSC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $37,463,000. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.1% during the first quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 5,356 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.6% during the first quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 8,835 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $727.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 153,273 shares of company stock valued at $105,091,830 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $6.75 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $726.03. The stock had a trading volume of 4,452,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,467,859. The company has a 50-day moving average of $669.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $632.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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