Focus Financial Network Inc. Purchases 739 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,988 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Fjell Capital LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,406,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in 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 during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $694.14 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $597.08 and a 200-day moving average of $617.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total value of $552,830.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares in the company, valued at $19,269,825.75. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,682 shares of company stock valued at $56,014,018 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.