Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,540 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $4,346,000. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.5% of Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $334,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $112,406,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $7.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $733.63. 18,758,104 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,539,418. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.26. The business's 50-day moving average price is $638.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $626.48.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Truist Financial increased their price target 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 reduced their price target 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. Loop Capital increased their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.52.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total value of $9,796,340.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,862,237.92. The trade was a 19.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.