Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 1,501 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 88.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,189 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares during the period. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 905 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd. now owns 1,700 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,716 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PGIM Custom Harvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total transaction of $15,498,965.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total value of $15,498,965.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 237,638 shares of company stock valued at $115,205,996. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $498.91 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $478.58 and a 200 day moving average of $450.54. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

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.