Wealth Effects LLC Acquires 468 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wealth Effects LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,151 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.9% of Wealth Effects LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Wealth Effects LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $812.00 price objective (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.52.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

META stock opened at $733.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $638.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $626.48.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other 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 transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,862,237.92. This represents a 19.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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