NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,307 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.9% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $31,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sky Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the first quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 16,227 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,353,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the first quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,087 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,203,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Parkside Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Investments LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,153,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 2,389 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Thomasville National Bank grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 39,704 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $22,884,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $704.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total transaction of $369,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 86,201 shares of company stock worth $56,377,837. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $10.49 on Friday, reaching $682.87. The company had a trading volume of 9,259,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,501,078. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. 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's 50-day moving average price is $604.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $619.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

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.