Hartline Investment Corp Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hartline Investment Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 36,623 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.8% of Hartline Investment Corp's portfolio, 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 reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 153,792 shares of company stock worth $105,466,325. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $9.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $717.51. 10,847,750 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,488,679. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $747.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $672.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $633.41. 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 company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company 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 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 payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $729.38.

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.