Kestra Advisory Services LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,353 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 23,170 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $62,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at $19,724,113. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.93, for a total value of $218,505.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,186.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 311,348 shares of company stock valued at $154,678,120. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $12.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $465.70. 14,222,388 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,931,730. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $493.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $475.36.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio 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.