Madrona Financial Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Madrona Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 53.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,373 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th 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 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,268,742.26. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 124,831 shares of company stock valued at $83,868,872 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on META shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $664.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.52.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $733.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $638.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $626.48. The company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

About Meta Platforms

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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