Ellenbecker Investment Group Buys 132 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ellenbecker Investment Group lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 414.1% during the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 12,858 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,244,000 after acquiring an additional 10,357 shares in the last quarter. Collective Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $281,000. New Hampshire Trust lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 10,210 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.2% during the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 7,761 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,769,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the first quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

META stock opened at $501.70 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $479.38 and its 200 day moving average is $445.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 313,169 shares of company stock valued at $153,344,736. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.