Hilltop Partners LLC Has $1.23 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hilltop Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 161.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,538 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 310,933 shares of company stock valued at $154,451,206 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $521.48.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded down $9.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $451.83. 2,727,192 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,101,643. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $493.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $473.94. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $542.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.95, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

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.