Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Acquires 137 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.0% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $15,406,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $694.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $597.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $617.62.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during 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. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Roth Capital upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.48.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total value of $298,418.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,453,384. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,682 shares of company stock valued at $56,014,018 over the last three months. 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.