Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Boosted by Northstar Advisory Group LLC

Northstar Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,125 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 3.1% of Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $694.06 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $589.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $616.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $702.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $1,025,052.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 139,538 shares in the company, valued at $97,834,277.94. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,104 shares of company stock worth $35,270,242. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.