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

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,582 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,107,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Hudock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.1% during the first quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.7% during the first quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $952,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the first quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,902 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,253,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 14,709 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,478,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $8.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $713.64. 5,633,054 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,270,516. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.28. 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 fifty day moving average price of $686.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $638.61.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $375,278.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,225,251.04. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 152,437 shares of company stock valued at $105,068,570. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $752.33.

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.