PDS Planning Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,092 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atala Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the first quarter. Atala Financial Inc now owns 2,462 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. GenTrust LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the first quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 934 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 19.5% in the first quarter. Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 12,779 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,366,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares in the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.6% during the first quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 12,987 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Balefire LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.9% during the first quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 731 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $719.52.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $704.89, for a total value of $365,837.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,839,129.05. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $1,025,052.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,834,277.94. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 124,223 shares of company stock worth $83,526,550. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $733.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $742.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $638.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $626.45.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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