Kennedy Investment Group Has $2.22 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kennedy Investment Group increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,847 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.0% of Kennedy Investment Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Kennedy Investment Group's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $17.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $726.09. The stock had a trading volume of 13,940,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,486,417. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The business's 50-day moving average price is $629.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $624.96.

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 firm 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 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 price objective (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $715.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 124,312 shares of company stock worth $83,503,034 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.