Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 174,098 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,563 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.5% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $100,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,862,237.92. This trade represents a 19.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,268,742.26. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 124,312 shares of company stock worth $83,503,034. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $712.69.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5%

META opened at $708.68 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $629.38 and a 200 day moving average of $624.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.