First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,391 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,112 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.9% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,469,906,000 after purchasing an additional 927,491 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,285,855,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. KeyCorp raised 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. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

META stock opened at $509.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 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 fifty day simple moving average is $482.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $458.78. 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 announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 earnings per share 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%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,905 shares of company stock valued at $123,528,726 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.