Abbrea Capital LLC Purchases 1,129 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Abbrea Capital LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,583 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.3% of Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ META traded up $1.91 on Friday, reaching $443.29. The company had a trading volume of 31,966,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,382,463. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $229.85 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $495.08 and a 200-day moving average of $403.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.