Golden State Equity Partners Grows Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $733.63 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $638.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $626.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,862,237.92. This trade represents a 19.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total transaction of $342,322.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,507,676.90. This represents a 8.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock valued at $83,868,872. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.52.

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.