Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 73.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,391 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,707 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.6% of Versant Capital Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total transaction of $409,767.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,662 shares in the company, valued at $5,837,841.52. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,664 shares of company stock worth $35,484,670. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $645.05 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $578.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $610.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $701.05.

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.