Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lifted by HWG Holdings LP

HWG Holdings LP increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 37.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,406 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,916 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 6.5% of HWG Holdings LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. HWG Holdings LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $712.69.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $1,025,052.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,834,277.94. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total transaction of $342,322.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,002 shares of company stock worth $73,353,340 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $3.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $708.68. 9,278,251 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,217,372. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. 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 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $625.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $624.38.

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 company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.