Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,382 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,949,000.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,862,237.92. This trade represents a 19.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday. Roth Capital upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $812.00 target price (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.52.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Price Performance
META traded up $7.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $733.63. 18,758,104 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,544,676. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.26. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $633.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $625.73.
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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid 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 (DPR) is currently 8.19%.
Meta Platforms Profile
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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.
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