Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. has acquired a $265,000 position in Meta Platforms, Inc. by purchasing 460 shares in the first quarter.
• Meta reported a significant earnings per share (EPS) of $6.43 for the last quarter, outperforming analysts' estimates by $1.10, and saw revenues increase by 16.1% year-over-year.
• Meta Platforms has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.30% and a dividend payout ratio of 8.19%.

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 460 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $815.09.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded down $23.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $750.01. 18,985,910 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,659,175. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $699.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $644.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $450.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 40.31% and a net margin of 39.99%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,980 shares of company stock valued at $105,708,832 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.