Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Albion Financial Group UT

Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1,223.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,982 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,170 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Monument Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 248.4% during the first quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 7,275 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,193,000 after buying an additional 5,187 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 481,654 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $277,606,000 after acquiring an additional 10,086 shares in the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crown Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,988 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $812.00 price target (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Pivotal Research dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.29.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $716.91 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $655.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $629.14.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results 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 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms 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 transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 154,285 shares of company stock worth $105,518,153 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.