WD Rutherford LLC Has $3.55 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WD Rutherford LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,156 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.9% of WD Rutherford LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. WD Rutherford LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total transaction of $5,476,691.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $77,550,434.92. The trade was a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,673.10. The trade was a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 84,672 shares of company stock valued at $55,455,647. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, June 12th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $706.88.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $697.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $610.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $621.38. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 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.