Sigma Planning Corp Has $22.39 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,843 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 6,211 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.7% of Sigma Planning Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Sigma Planning Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:META traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $704.28. 12,743,944 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,336,421. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $747.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $686.09 and a 200 day moving average of $637.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.50, for a total transaction of $370,947.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,819 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,632.50. This trade represents a 7.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 153,764 shares of company stock worth $105,721,208. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $828.00 target price (up previously from $807.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $736.05.

Meta Platforms Company 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.