Whitener Capital Management Inc. Has $2.72 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,711 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $812.00 price objective (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Loop Capital lifted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $736.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $701.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $683.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $637.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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