Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Lifted by Naples Global Advisors LLC

Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,159 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,122 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,406,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total value of $370,272.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,054 shares in the company, valued at $4,904,886. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,652 shares of company stock valued at $34,815,208 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of META opened at $687.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $583.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $613.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) 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 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Company 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.