Embree Financial Group Buys 473 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Embree Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 27.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,188 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 473 shares during the quarter. Embree Financial Group's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $664.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $719.52.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $7.54 on Friday, reaching $733.63. 18,758,104 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,525,798. The company has a fifty day moving average of $633.87 and a 200-day moving average of $625.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. 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 posted $4.71 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 124,831 shares of company stock valued at $83,868,872. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.