Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,747 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,772 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. This represents a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,135 shares of company stock worth $34,481,779 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $670.90 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $579.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $612.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid 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 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.