Kelly Financial Group LLC Acquires New Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kelly Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 421 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $20.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $703.33. The company had a trading volume of 6,342,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,490,424. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company's 50-day moving average price is $604.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $619.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $704.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,673.10. This represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,593 shares of company stock worth $56,008,477 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.