Santori & Peters Inc. Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Santori & Peters Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 451 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. LongView Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,247 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the first quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $509.96 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $481.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $458.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business 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, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective 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. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued 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 an average target price of $511.27.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.08, for a total value of $8,402,442.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 204,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,769,182.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.08, for a total value of $8,402,442.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,280 shares in the company, valued at $102,769,182.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,395 shares of company stock valued at $123,781,816. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.