Ellenbecker Investment Group Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ellenbecker Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,198 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fjell Capital LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $694.14 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $597.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $617.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $1,025,052.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 139,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,834,277.94. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total transaction of $369,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,523,445. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 85,682 shares of company stock valued at $56,014,018. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.48.

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.