Menard Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,754 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.4% of Menard Financial Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Menard Financial Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $643.58. The company had a trading volume of 8,878,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,470,527. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $576.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $609.77.

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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,628 shares of company stock worth $48,380,586 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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, Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.

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.