Arlington Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 395 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Arlington Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 60.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,044 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the quarter. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $642.23 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $578.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $611.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total value of $298,418.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at $6,453,384. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total value of $593,124.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,945 shares in the company, valued at $21,860,580. This represents a 2.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,056 shares of company stock valued at $35,074,903. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.