Trek Financial LLC Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Trek Financial LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 224.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,255 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,481 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position 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 valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position 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 valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research 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 research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $812.00 price objective (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $729.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 153,792 shares of company stock valued at $105,466,325. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:META traded down $9.73 on Friday, hitting $717.51. The stock had a trading volume of 10,855,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,460,014. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $674.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $634.35. 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 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $747.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.