Davis Investment Partners LLC Acquires 74 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Davis Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 401 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Davis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Members Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the first quarter. Members Wealth LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 100.6% during the 1st quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 12,498 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,203,000 after purchasing an additional 6,268 shares during the period. Sagace Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 104.0% during the 1st quarter. Sagace Wealth Management LLC now owns 816 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 752,584 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $433,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 29,661 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,096,000 after acquiring an additional 3,349 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:META opened at $693.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $600.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $618.50.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,523,445. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. The trade was a 2.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $704.26.

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.