WNY Asset Management LLC Has $2.32 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WNY Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,024 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. ABLE Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,865 shares of company stock worth $105,467,671 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $3.55 during trading on Monday, hitting $716.23. 3,710,559 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,368,374. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $450.80 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $692.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $642.00. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $807.00 to $828.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $752.33.

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.