Applied Capital LLC FL Has $3.34 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Applied Capital LLC FL increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.7% of Applied Capital LLC FL’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Applied Capital LLC FL’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. S.A. Mason LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,247 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the first quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total transaction of $8,600,861.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 213,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,690,084.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,086 shares of company stock valued at $106,423,370 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $509.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $480.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $458.05. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 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.