AA Financial Advisors LLC Takes $937,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

AA Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,930 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,469,906,000 after acquiring an additional 927,491 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $11,285,855,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total value of $8,916,696.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,104,462.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total transaction of $8,916,696.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,104,462.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 294,768 shares of company stock valued at $146,314,257. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $593.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $534.04 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $490.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.38 and a 52-week high of $542.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.