Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Lake Street Advisors Group LLC

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 57.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,340 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,126 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arjuna Capital lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.1% during the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 13,106 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,364,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,599,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,262,489,000 after acquiring an additional 93,026 shares during the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $213,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 267.3% during the 1st quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 257,100 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $124,843,000 after purchasing an additional 187,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 161.1% in the first quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 2,538 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $521.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 310,933 shares of company stock worth $154,451,206 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $0.66 during trading on Thursday, reaching $460.61. 9,592,777 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,149,992. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $493.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $473.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.38 and a 52-week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 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 business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.