Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Makes New $202,000 Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 415 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,643 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $798,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 49.3% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,151 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,958,000 after buying an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Virginia VA acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $242,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 8,286 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,024,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,981 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,876,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 233,512 shares of company stock worth $113,597,536 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of META opened at $504.22 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $480.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.