Sovran Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sovran Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 144.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,280 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,249 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Sovran Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Sovran Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 154,285 shares of company stock valued at $105,518,153 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $3.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $716.91. The stock had a trading volume of 8,601,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,572,054. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $658.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $629.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.29.

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.