Integrity Financial Corp WA Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Integrity Financial Corp WA has acquired 486 shares of Meta Platforms, Inc., valued at approximately $280,000, marking the firm's entry into this investment during the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Price T Rowe Associates and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their holdings in Meta Platforms, indicating a growing interest in the tech giant.
• Meta Platforms has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, reflecting a 0.3% dividend yield and a low dividend payout ratio of 7.60%.

Integrity Financial Corp WA acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 486 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 795 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $3.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $785.23. 13,361,371 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,931,265. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $724.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $655.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 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 firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors 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 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total transaction of $398,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 4,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,658,270. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,037 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.18, for a total transaction of $814,231.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 269,243 shares of company stock worth $200,605,051. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.