Phraction Management LLC Has $1.39 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Phraction Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,403 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Phraction Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $808.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total transaction of $382,503.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,360,362. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total transaction of $383,081.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,853 shares in the company, valued at $5,818,837.41. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 154,285 shares of company stock worth $105,518,153. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $716.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $658.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $630.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.