Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Has $6.60 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,445 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.0% of Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $694.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $597.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $617.62. 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total value of $5,476,691.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. The trade was a 6.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 85,682 shares of company stock valued at $56,014,018. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $702.48.

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.