Foster Group Inc. Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Foster Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,761 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the first quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 1,482 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 468.2% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares during the period. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 39.2% during the first quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC now owns 15,990 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,764,000 after buying an additional 4,499 shares during the period. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 13.8% during the first quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 15,055 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,310,000 after buying an additional 1,830 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ META opened at $501.70 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $479.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $445.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.05.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total value of $8,406,784.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,297 shares in the company, valued at $138,567,991.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total transaction of $8,406,784.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 275,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,567,991.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.75, for a total transaction of $208,369.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,061,678.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 313,169 shares of company stock worth $153,344,736. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.