Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,405 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,386,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Roth Capital raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $719.52.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
NASDAQ META traded up $7.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $733.63. 18,758,104 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,544,681. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $638.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $626.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,862,237.92. This trade represents a 19.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock valued at $83,868,872 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Meta Platforms Profile
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Free Report)
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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