Conway Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Conway Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,524 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,665 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.5% of Conway Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Conway Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 84,672 shares of company stock valued at $55,455,647. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $702.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.35, a PEG 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $607.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $620.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

About Meta Platforms

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.