World Equity Group Inc. Has $4.13 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

World Equity Group Inc. cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 43.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,166 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,432 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.2% of World Equity Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. World Equity Group Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $13.67 on Tuesday, reaching $712.20. The company had a trading volume of 13,806,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,499,646. The company's fifty day moving average is $625.25 and its 200 day moving average is $624.38. 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 market cap of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $700.38, for a total value of $350,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,615,645.22. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,002 shares of company stock worth $73,353,340 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $664.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $712.69.

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.