Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 168.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,406 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,285 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.7% of Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $2.70 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $691.44. 3,491,841 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,479,353. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $597.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $617.62. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.
Insider Activity
In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $698.00, for a total transaction of $360,866.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,563,992. This trade represents a 5.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $1,025,052.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 139,538 shares in the company, valued at $97,834,277.94. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 85,682 shares of company stock valued at $56,014,018. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Pivotal Research decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $702.48.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on META
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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