Richardson Capital Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Richardson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 185 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,314,722 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,496,450,000 after acquiring an additional 592,085 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 11,033 shares in the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 19,122 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $485.00, for a total value of $283,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,983 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,755. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $485.00, for a total transaction of $283,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,755. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 201,557 shares of company stock worth $97,894,296. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $504.22 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $480.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $455.62. 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 earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 (DPR) is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.