Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,182 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.3% of Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $702.91 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $681.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $636.39.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.50, for a total transaction of $370,947.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,819 shares in the company, valued at $4,892,632.50. This represents a 7.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total value of $374,494.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,559,597.99. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 152,780 shares of company stock worth $105,009,697. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $795.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $732.67.

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.