Csenge Advisory Group Purchases 1,019 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 153,473 shares of company stock worth $105,805,440. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of META stock traded down $2.12 on Friday, hitting $712.68. The stock had a trading volume of 8,253,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,556,341. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $450.80 and a twelve month high of $747.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $692.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $641.78. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on META shares. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $845.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $752.33.

Meta Platforms 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.