Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Grows Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 32.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,343 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total value of $373,901.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,205,164.86. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 84,672 shares of company stock worth $55,455,647 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of META stock opened at $697.23 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $610.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $621.38. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $676.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Pivotal Research reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.88.

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.