Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Purchases 2,900 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,026 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.9% of Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Bayban boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.5%

NASDAQ:META opened at $615.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $600.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $627.42. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $84,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,707,600. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,513 shares of company stock valued at $24,419,874. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse Image, a new AI image-generation tool inside Meta AI for consumers and businesses. The rollout could help increase engagement across Instagram, WhatsApp and other apps, while giving advertisers and creators a new reason to use Meta’s ecosystem. Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta from hold to buy, adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Raised to “Buy” at Erste Group Bank
• Positive Sentiment: Truist Securities also reiterated a Buy view and an $840 price target, reinforcing the case that Wall Street still sees meaningful upside in META.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.