Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Hengehold Capital Management LLC

Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,267 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $730,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 53.6% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.88.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total transaction of $5,476,691.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. This trade represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 84,672 shares of company stock valued at $55,455,647 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.8%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $702.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $607.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $620.85. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.