Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.9% of Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $720.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $677.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $635.41. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 152,263 shares of company stock worth $104,638,750. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on META shares. Wedbush raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $729.38.

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.