Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Raised by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 801.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,599 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 75,213 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $15,406,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total transaction of $370,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,054 shares in the company, valued at $4,904,886. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $671.00, for a total value of $348,249.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,930,042. This trade represents a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,171 shares of company stock worth $35,163,457 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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 company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5%

META opened at $684.62 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $585.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $613.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

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.

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