Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Smith Group Asset Management LLC's 4th Largest Position

Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,496 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,432 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 3.1% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Smith Group Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $41,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $664.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.29.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $3.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $716.91. The company had a trading volume of 8,601,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,544,817. The company has a fifty day moving average of $658.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $630.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total transaction of $383,081.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,818,837.41. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 154,285 shares of company stock valued at $105,518,153. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.