Smart Money Group LLC Invests $385,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Smart Money Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 792 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth 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. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,459 shares of company stock worth $128,049,749 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $530.00 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $464.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.38 and a 52-week high of $542.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.21.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.