Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Alps Advisors Inc.

Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,740 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,972 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,424,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of META traded down $7.48 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $702.91. 13,045,170 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,430,432. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company's 50 day moving average is $681.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $636.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.41, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Capital increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $732.67.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the firm's 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.50, for a total value of $370,947.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,892,632.50. The trade was a 7.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,780 shares of company stock valued at $105,009,697 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.