Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 13,962 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.2%, acquiring an additional 13,962 shares, making the total holdings 138,911 shares valued at approximately $80 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a robust quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $7.14, surpassing estimates and achieving a revenue of $47.52 billion, marking a 21.6% increase year-over-year.
• Recent analyst upgrades have set a target price for Meta Platforms between $720 and $900, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from investment analysts.

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,911 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,962 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.3% of Metis Global Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $80,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0%

NASDAQ META traded down $23.43 on Friday, reaching $750.01. The company had a trading volume of 18,985,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,087,110. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $450.80 and a 1-year high of $784.75. The company's fifty day moving average is $701.68 and its 200-day moving average is $645.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Securities lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $815.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total value of $369,655.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,136,275. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 152,980 shares of company stock valued at $105,708,832. 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.