WNY Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WNY Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,024 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $752.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 153,473 shares of company stock valued at $105,805,440. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of META stock opened at $714.80 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $691.04 and a 200-day moving average of $640.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.