Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 174,098 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,563 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.5% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $100,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 124,312 shares of company stock worth $83,503,034. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note 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 assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $712.69.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $708.68 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $629.38 and its 200 day moving average is $624.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.