Sierra Capital LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sierra Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,111 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Sierra Capital LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $729.38.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $717.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $747.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $674.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $634.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend 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 presently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total transaction of $370,952.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,336 shares in the company, valued at $5,263,653.36. This represents a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total value of $374,494.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,559,597.99. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 153,792 shares of company stock worth $105,466,325 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.