North Star Investment Management Corp. Acquires 466 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Longbow Finance SA bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,701,000. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 172.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 12,293 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,969,000 after acquiring an additional 7,779 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 12,369 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,011,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 340,357 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $165,270,000 after acquiring an additional 20,848 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 470.6% during the 1st quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 13,917 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,758,000 after acquiring an additional 11,478 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 5.9 %

META traded up $29.95 on Friday, hitting $539.91. The company had a trading volume of 21,212,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,284,765. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $540.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $482.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $458.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company 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 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.27.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,924,027.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 251,905 shares of company stock worth $123,528,726 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.