Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Increased by JLB & Associates Inc.

JLB & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 83.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,721 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,697 shares during the quarter. JLB & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $13.42 on Friday, reaching $682.35. 22,498,010 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,512,174. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company's 50 day moving average is $618.10 and its 200-day moving average is $623.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced 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 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.99, for a total value of $364,332.81. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,121,841.36. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,031 shares of company stock worth $73,954,565 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Capital upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $710.00.

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.