Massachusetts Wealth Management Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 796 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 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 given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.27.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total transaction of $8,502,988.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,113,116.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total value of $8,502,988.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 186,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,113,116.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 251,905 shares of company stock valued at $123,528,726 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

META stock opened at $509.96 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $482.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $458.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. 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 data 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 net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.