Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Plimoth Trust Co. LLC

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 254.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,568 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,998 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $682.35 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $618.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $623.08.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 6,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,205,164.86. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $700.43, for a total value of $1,928,283.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,970,116.17. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,031 shares of company stock valued at $73,954,565 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $710.00.

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.