Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Marest Capital LLC

Marest Capital LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of Marest Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Marest Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,395 shares of company stock worth $123,781,816 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $509.96 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $481.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $458.42.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

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.