Clarius Group LLC Acquires 1,469 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Clarius Group LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,002 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.7% of Clarius Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Clarius Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $334,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $112,406,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.27, for a total transaction of $361,522.59. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,887 shares in the company, valued at $6,214,412.49. This trade represents a 5.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,512 shares of company stock worth $73,590,232. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.9%

NASDAQ META traded down $13.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $682.35. The stock had a trading volume of 22,498,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,533,861. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company's 50-day moving average price is $615.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $622.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.