Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Northeast Investment Management

Northeast Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 105,420 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.8% of Northeast Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $60,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $694.14 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $597.08 and a 200-day moving average of $617.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $77,550,434.92. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,682 shares of company stock worth $56,014,018 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $702.48.

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.