Ieq Capital LLC Has $416.69 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 858,125 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,387 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 6.0% of Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $416,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP grew its position in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ META traded up $4.00 on Friday, reaching $479.85. The company had a trading volume of 10,359,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,227,805. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $493.39 and its 200-day moving average is $469.46. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 311,106 shares of company stock worth $154,542,945 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.