Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Lifted by BankPlus Wealth Management LLC

BankPlus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 437 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 34 shares during the quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $716.91 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $747.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $655.49 and a 200 day moving average of $629.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $812.00 target price (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 154,285 shares of company stock valued at $105,518,153. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by 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.