Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 5,995 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 62,155 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 5,995 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $494.78 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $478.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $446.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,169 shares of company stock worth $153,344,736 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.