Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Buys 2,685 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 84.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,685 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.2% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $459,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 255.9% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,001,044,000 after buying an additional 1,229,350 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.99, for a total transaction of $364,332.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,121,841.36. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value 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 $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,031 shares of company stock worth $73,954,565. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $682.35 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $618.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $623.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s 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.