CWA Asset Management Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,580 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.4% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $13.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $682.35. 22,498,010 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,546,632. The company has a 50 day moving average of $618.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $623.08. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.26.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total value of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,205,164.86. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,031 shares of company stock worth $73,954,565. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Profile

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.