Brookstone Capital Management Has $14.88 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,469,906,000 after purchasing an additional 927,491 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,285,855,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.49, for a total value of $15,464,732.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.49, for a total value of $15,464,732.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 233,512 shares of company stock worth $113,597,536. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $519.56 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $479.53 and its 200-day moving average is $452.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.