Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by EdgeRock Capital LLC

EdgeRock Capital LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,656 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.1% of EdgeRock Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. EdgeRock Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Roth Capital lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $694.14 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $597.08 and its 200-day moving average is $617.62. 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 $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.

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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $1,025,052.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 139,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,834,277.94. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $698.00, for a total value of $360,866.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,563,992. This trade represents a 5.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,682 shares of company stock worth $56,014,018 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.