Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Increased by AE Wealth Management LLC

AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 231,761 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,905 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of AE Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $133,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $284,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $712.68 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $692.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $642.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $812.00 price objective (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $752.33.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business’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 owned 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 152,865 shares of company stock worth $105,467,671. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.