Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,113 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,473 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.9% of Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ META traded down $3.33 on Thursday, hitting $684.62. 13,062,206 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,506,457. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $583.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $613.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business 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 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $702.48.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.