Appleton Partners Inc. MA lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 21.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,909 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,597 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.4% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 49.7% in the first quarter. Petra Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 886 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 69,318 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $39,952,000 after acquiring an additional 9,893 shares during the period. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,928 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7,000.0% during the first quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 710 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 47,225 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $27,219,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,423 shares of company stock worth $73,580,663 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.9%
NASDAQ META opened at $682.35 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $618.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $623.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26.
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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $710.00.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
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.
Further Reading
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of ten stocks that are set to soar in Summer 2025, despite the threat of tariffs and other economic uncertainty. These ten stocks are incredibly resilient and are likely to thrive in any economic environment.
Get This Free Report
