Centerpoint Advisory Group Acquires 118 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Centerpoint Advisory Group raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Centerpoint Advisory Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $4,346,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% during the first quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 23,805 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.6% during the first quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 956 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.9% during the first quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 2,639 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 301,208 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $173,604,000 after purchasing an additional 13,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wedbush upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $712.69.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $712.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $625.25 and its 200-day moving average is $624.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,507,676.90. This trade represents a 8.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,002 shares of company stock worth $73,353,340. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.