Peterson Wealth Services Purchases 1,138 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Peterson Wealth Services boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 20.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,786 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.2% of Peterson Wealth Services' portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Peterson Wealth Services' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $19,949,512,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $752.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,865 shares of company stock worth $105,467,671 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $4.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $716.86. 3,710,559 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,368,374. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $692.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $642.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $450.80 and a one year high of $747.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.