Griffith & Werner Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,867 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.5% of Griffith & Werner Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Griffith & Werner Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.9%
META opened at $697.71 on Monday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $587.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $615.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total transaction of $369,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,523,445. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,649,280. The trade was a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,563 shares of company stock worth $34,793,185 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $702.48.
View Our Latest Analysis on META
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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