Perpetual Ltd Buys 9,668 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 62.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,224 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,668 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Ellenbecker Investment Group increased its position in Meta Platforms by 13.6% during the first quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 1,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 414.1% during the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 12,858 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,244,000 after acquiring an additional 10,357 shares during the period. Collective Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $281,000. New Hampshire Trust raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 10,210 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,958,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Foster Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 7,761 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,769,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.82, for a total transaction of $39,079,125.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,169 shares of company stock valued at $153,344,736. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $6.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $494.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,117,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,627,217. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $478.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $446.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.