Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by E&G Advisors LP

E&G Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,138 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 351 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.1% of E&G Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. E&G Advisors LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 13,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,110,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 95,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456 shares during the last quarter. Holderness Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 4,892 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $509.96 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $482.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $458.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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 shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 251,905 shares of company stock valued at $123,528,726. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.