Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 31,378 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 444,177 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,378 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.7% of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $256,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Suvretta Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $459,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,001,044,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $706.88.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.00, for a total transaction of $363,819.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,457,283. This trade represents a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total value of $5,476,691.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 84,672 shares of company stock worth $55,455,647 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of META stock opened at $702.12 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. 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 stock'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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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