Opinicus Capital Inc. Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Opinicus Capital Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,690 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.4% of Opinicus Capital Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Opinicus Capital Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Defined Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 671 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 2,809 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,619,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,586 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,422 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 501 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $682.87 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's fifty day moving average is $604.07 and its 200 day moving average is $619.60.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,103 shares in the company, valued at $19,269,825.75. The trade was a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,466 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.25, for a total value of $5,235,532.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 132,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,615,490. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $704.26.

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.

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