Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Purchases 3,701 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 272.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,059 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,701 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Wedbush upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $752.33.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.41, for a total transaction of $365,213.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,451,795.82. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 152,865 shares of company stock valued at $105,467,671. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of META traded up $4.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $716.86. 3,710,559 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,368,374. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $692.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $642.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $450.80 and a twelve month high of $747.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. 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 posted 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. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.