Waterford Advisors LLC Purchases 190 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Waterford Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 956 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Waterford Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 27,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,427,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Wick Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $266,000. Third Point LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 1,236,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $600,177,000 after purchasing an additional 76,000 shares in the last quarter. Untitled Investments LP increased its position in Meta Platforms by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Untitled Investments LP now owns 34,158 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,586,000 after purchasing an additional 10,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Edge Capital LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 90.2% during the 1st quarter. Blue Edge Capital LLC now owns 10,362 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,915 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded up $0.01 during trading on Monday, reaching $465.71. The stock had a trading volume of 11,265,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,162,646. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 1.20 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $493.14 and a 200-day moving average of $476.77.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 311,760 shares of company stock valued at $154,868,876. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $538.95.

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.