Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Northstar Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,125 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.1% of Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $694.06 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $589.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $616.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $671.00, for a total value of $348,249.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,930,042. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $1,025,052.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,538 shares in the company, valued at $97,834,277.94. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,104 shares of company stock valued at $35,270,242 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.48.

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.