Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 164.1%, reaching a total of 1,207 shares valued at approximately $696,000 at the end of the first quarter.
• Insider activity includes CEO Mark Zuckerberg selling 15,847 shares for over $11.9 million and CTO Andrew Bosworth selling 22,449 shares for around $14.3 million, reflecting significant insider movement.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic, with multiple firms raising their price targets for Meta Platforms, leading to an average target price of $822.41 and a "Moderate Buy" rating across 39 buy recommendations.

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 164.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,207 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 750 shares during the quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3%

META traded up $2.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $782.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,732,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,334,524. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $720.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $653.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $795.46.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,037 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.18, for a total transaction of $814,231.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total value of $398,090.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 4,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,658,270. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 292,211 shares of company stock worth $215,232,155 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

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.