927 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Bought by Inspire Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC has acquired 927 new shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. valued at approximately $534,000, as per their recent 13F filing with the SEC.
• Institutional investors own 79.91% of Meta's stock, with notable purchases from firms like GAMMA Investing LLC and Raymond James Financial Inc., significantly increasing their stakes.
• Meta reported impressive quarterly results, with $7.14 earnings per share and revenues of $47.52 billion, surpassing analysts’ expectations and indicating a 21.6% increase compared to last year.

Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 927 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $815.09.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $23.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $750.01. 18,985,910 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,087,110. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $701.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $645.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $450.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, 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 transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company'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 owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 152,980 shares of company stock worth $105,708,832. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.