Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Raised by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 63,744 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,499 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $36,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in 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. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $1,025,052.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,834,277.94. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock valued at $83,868,872. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $7.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $733.63. The stock had a trading volume of 18,740,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,525,747. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $633.87 and a 200-day moving average of $625.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.74 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 fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two 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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.52.

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.