Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,067 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,955 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $64,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $2.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $712.68. The company had a trading volume of 8,253,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,454,932. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $691.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $640.92. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $450.80 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $807.00 to $828.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $812.00 price target (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Roth Capital raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $752.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 153,473 shares of company stock valued at $105,805,440 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.