Paragon Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Paragon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,694 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 907 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.9% of Paragon Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Paragon Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during 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 period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

META stock traded down $8.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $694.14. The stock had a trading volume of 9,536,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,502,924. The company's 50-day moving average price is $593.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $617.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,104 shares of company stock worth $35,270,242 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $702.48.

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.