Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $9.46 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 168.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,406 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,285 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.7% of Simplicity Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in 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 increased its holdings 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 last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $702.48.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,104 shares of company stock valued at $35,270,242. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $702.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $593.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $617.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.