Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Has $24.09 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,793 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.9% of Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $702.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $593.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $617.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. 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 announced 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. 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 analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,104 shares of company stock worth $35,270,242 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $702.48.

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.