Matauro LLC Buys New Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Matauro LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,492 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $860,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,229,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,908,382,000 after buying an additional 110,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $682.87 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $604.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $619.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $676.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Capital raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $704.26.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total transaction of $369,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total transaction of $298,418.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at $6,453,384. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,201 shares of company stock worth $56,377,837 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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