Wolf Group Capital Advisors Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wolf Group Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,049 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,181,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $13.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $682.35. 22,498,010 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,546,632. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $618.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $623.08.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,031 shares of company stock worth $73,954,565 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $710.00.

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.