Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 60,974 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,746 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
NASDAQ META traded down $3.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $684.62. 12,316,532 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,508,647. The firm's 50-day moving average is $583.27 and its 200-day moving average is $613.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 company's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
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 given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Pivotal Research reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $702.48.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,649,280. The trade was a 2.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
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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