Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Boosted by Cohen Investment Advisors LLC

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5,261.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 543,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 533,376 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 8.2% of Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $313,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm’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 value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 153,766 shares of company stock worth $105,135,650 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.29.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of META stock opened at $713.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $747.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $651.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $628.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.