Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,296 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,745 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.7% of Brighton Jones LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ META opened at $702.12 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $607.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $620.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at $4,205,164.86. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total transaction of $5,476,691.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 84,672 shares of company stock worth $55,455,647 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.88.

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.