Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Acquires 2,685 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 84.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,850 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,685 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.2% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fjell Capital LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,406,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,753 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $700.43, for a total value of $1,928,283.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,970,116.17. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,031 shares of company stock valued at $73,954,565 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $13.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $682.35. 22,498,010 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,512,174. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $618.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $623.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm 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 company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.