Alera Investment Advisors LLC Buys 876 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Alera Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 46.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,776 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $181,000. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,340 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,306,000 after buying an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,946 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hixon Zuercher LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 10,516 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,722,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $476.79. 15,149,416 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,694,282. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $542.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $493.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $471.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm 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, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.10.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 311,106 shares of company stock worth $154,542,945. Company insiders own 13.71% 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.