Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC

Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 31.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,385 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $329,777.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,202,725.61. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,135 shares of company stock valued at $34,481,779. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $666.85 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $581.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $612.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G 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 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.