NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ Buys 440 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,065 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.7% of NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:META traded down $20.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $752.76. The company had a trading volume of 10,386,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,597,535. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The business's fifty day moving average is $699.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $644.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 40.31% and a net margin of 39.99%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $815.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total value of $369,655.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,136,275. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 152,980 shares of company stock worth $105,708,832. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.