Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,239 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,020,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.7% of Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings 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 valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.93, for a total transaction of $333,428.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,398,350.53. This trade represents a 4.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Meta Platforms stock traded down $3.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $684.62. 13,062,206 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,510,826. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $583.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $613.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $702.48.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Explore Elon Musk’s boldest ventures yet—from AI and autonomy to space colonization—and find out how investors can ride the next wave of innovation.
Get This Free Report
