Merrion Investment Management Co LLC Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,125 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,314,722 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,496,450,000 after acquiring an additional 592,085 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 69.9% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 26,817 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,051,000 after acquiring an additional 11,033 shares during the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 503.5% during the third quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 22,920 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,881,000 after acquiring an additional 19,122 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,211,935 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $664,045,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 28,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of Meta Platforms 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 $2,386,617.30. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at $117,737,915.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 201,557 shares of company stock valued at $97,894,296. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $504.22 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $480.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $455.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

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.