First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 51,391 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 7,112 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.9% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 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 $535,549.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,130,103.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,905 shares of company stock valued at $123,528,726 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of META opened at $509.96 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $482.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $458.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

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 company had revenue of $36.46 billion during 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 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.