Monument Capital Management Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Monument Capital Management raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 248.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,275 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 5,187 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of Monument Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Monument Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 154,285 shares of company stock worth $105,518,153. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

META stock opened at $716.91 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $655.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $629.14. 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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.29.

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.