Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 2,772 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,747 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,772 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total transaction of $370,272.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,904,886. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,855,043.68. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,135 shares of company stock worth $34,481,779. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $21.10 on Wednesday, reaching $687.95. 14,007,287 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,516,419. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company's 50 day moving average is $581.05 and its 200-day moving average is $612.48. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued 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 is currently 8.19%.

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.