493 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Bought by JMG Financial Group Ltd.

JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 493 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Darden Wealth Group Inc lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 13.7% during the first quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc now owns 1,847 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,065,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. JDH Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 18.9% during the first quarter. JDH Wealth Management LLC now owns 617 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.7% during the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.0% during the first quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. now owns 1,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saturna Capital Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.1% during the first quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 4,439 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,558,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of META stock traded down $2.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $712.68. 8,253,539 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,556,341. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $692.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $641.78. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $752.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total transaction of $371,655.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 26,069 shares in the company, valued at $18,668,010.90. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 153,473 shares of company stock worth $105,805,440 over the last ninety days. 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.