Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Purchases 3,694 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,355 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,694 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.7% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $57,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $708.68 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $629.38 and its 200 day moving average is $624.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total value of $9,796,340.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,862,237.92. The trade was a 19.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 124,312 shares of company stock worth $83,503,034 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $712.69.

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.