Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lifted by Hamilton Capital Partners LLC

Hamilton Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 35.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,287 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,131 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 8.5% of Hamilton Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Hamilton Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fjell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,406,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $13.42 on Friday, reaching $682.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,498,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,512,174. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $618.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $623.14.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. 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 Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,031 shares of company stock worth $73,954,565. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Company 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.