Northstar Advisory Group LLC Buys 600 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,125 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 3.1% of Northstar Advisory Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Northstar Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James cut their target price on 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. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Pivotal Research dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 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 issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $704.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.00, for a total transaction of $363,819.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,457,283. This represents a 1.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $1,025,052.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,834,277.94. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $10.49 on Friday, reaching $682.87. The stock had a trading volume of 9,259,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,501,070. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $604.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $619.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Meta Platforms 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.