Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Main Street Research LLC

Main Street Research LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 3,341 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.9% of Main Street Research LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Main Street Research LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $59,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Suvretta Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 255.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,229,350 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 368,499 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $215,760,000 after purchasing an additional 73,907 shares during the period. Finally, Arcadia Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $600,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, June 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given 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 an average target price of $729.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total transaction of $374,494.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,559,597.99. The trade was a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 152,263 shares of company stock valued at $104,638,750. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $10.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $710.39. The stock had a trading volume of 11,499,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,434,369. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $677.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $635.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $747.90.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.