Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,805 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.7% of Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fjell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $334,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $112,406,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $712.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $625.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $624.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $712.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.13, for a total value of $5,836,104.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,048,632.36. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at $17,268,742.26. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,002 shares of company stock valued at $73,353,340 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.