Regency Capital Management Inc. DE Takes $2.49 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Regency Capital Management Inc. invested approximately $2.49 million in Meta Platforms, acquiring a total of 4,327 shares, now representing 1.5% of its holdings.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now control 79.91% of Meta Platforms' stock, indicating strong investor confidence in the company.
• Meta Platforms reported a Q1 EPS of $6.43, surpassing analysts' expectations and marking a revenue increase of 16.1% year-over-year.

Regency Capital Management Inc. DE acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,327 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $2,494,000. Meta Platforms comprises 1.5% of Regency Capital Management Inc. DE's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 31,149 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $17,953,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Integrity Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $355,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 53,399 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $29,607,000 after purchasing an additional 2,554 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 192,340 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $110,857,000 after buying an additional 9,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $13,592,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 151,944 shares of company stock valued at $104,965,570. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $795.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Benchmark raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wedbush lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Pivotal Research lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $754.07.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.9%

META traded down $6.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $711.47. 3,558,057 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,318,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $694.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $642.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $450.80 and a 1 year high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.