NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 210,275 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 9,001 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.2% of NewEdge Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. NewEdge Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $121,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.26, for a total value of $393,054.42. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 5,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,005,049.68. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 260,024 shares of company stock valued at $188,466,159 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of META stock opened at $761.83 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $711.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $649.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $784.75.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.
Meta Platforms Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Learn the basics of options trading and how to use them to boost returns and manage risk with this free report from MarketBeat. Click the link below to get your free copy.
Get This Free Report