F&V Capital Management LLC Buys 8,245 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

F&V Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 76.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 8,245 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.8% of F&V Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. F&V Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $704.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $682.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $604.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $619.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,201 shares of company stock worth $56,377,837 over the last 90 days. Company 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.