Renaissance Investment Group LLC Purchases 536 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Renaissance Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.5% during Q1, acquiring an additional 536 shares to reach a total of 10,305 shares valued at approximately $5.94 million.
• Meta Platforms reported earnings of $7.14 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $5.75, and revenue rose to $47.52 billion, a 21.6% increase from the previous year.
• Recent analyst upgrades have set a new target price for Meta Platforms, with UBS increasing it from $812.00 to $897.00, and overall, the stock has received numerous 'buy' ratings from investment analysts.

Renaissance Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,305 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on META shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $26.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $776.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,753,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,660,116. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $701.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $646.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,372 shares of company stock valued at $105,348,896 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.