Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,355 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,694 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.7% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $57,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fjell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $334,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $112,406,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $7.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $733.63. The stock had a trading volume of 18,758,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,539,418. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $638.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $626.48. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $1,025,052.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,834,277.94. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $704.89, for a total value of $365,837.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,839,129.05. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.