Grassi Investment Management Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Grassi Investment Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on META. TD Securities lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $687.95 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $583.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $613.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.93, for a total transaction of $333,428.81. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,398,350.53. This trade represents a 4.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.