Next Level Private LLC Acquires 97 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Next Level Private LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,404 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the quarter. Next Level Private LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5%

META stock opened at $684.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $585.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $613.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $671.00, for a total value of $348,249.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,930,042. This represents a 1.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,171 shares of company stock valued at $35,163,457. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $702.48.

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.