Rehmann Capital Advisory Group Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,523 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Etfidea LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $229,000. Lutz Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Lutz Financial Services LLC now owns 856 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. AA Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $937,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 89.5% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 9,286 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,509,000 after buying an additional 4,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 33.2% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 233,948 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $113,600,000 after acquiring an additional 58,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued 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 $515.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 294,768 shares of company stock valued at $146,314,257. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $5.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $529.22. 1,373,300 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,065,414. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $542.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 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’s fifty day moving average price is $490.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $464.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.