JFS Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,147 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 56 shares during the quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $712.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total value of $298,418.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,453,384. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 124,312 shares of company stock worth $83,503,034 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $708.68 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $629.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $624.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.