Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Buys 735 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,765 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 735 shares during the quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fjell Capital LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $15,406,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $2.70 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $691.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,491,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,479,528. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $597.08 and a 200 day moving average of $617.62.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $702.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 85,682 shares of company stock worth $56,014,018. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.