Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Increased by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,220 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.1% of World Investment Advisors' holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $812.00 price objective (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $729.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $9.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $717.51. 10,855,962 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,460,014. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $674.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $634.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total value of $374,494.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,107 shares in the company, valued at $19,559,597.99. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 153,792 shares of company stock valued at $105,466,325. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.