EWG Elevate Inc. Buys 262 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

EWG Elevate Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 67.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 652 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. EWG Elevate Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during 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 valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $670.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $579.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $612.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid 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 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,135 shares of company stock valued at $34,481,779. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.