Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Roth Capital upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $715.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $726.09 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $633.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $625.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total value of $9,796,340.32. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.