LRI Investments LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,179 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,892,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.4% of LRI Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 27.2% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,485 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,913,000. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $63,708,000. Cloverfields Capital Group LP grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP now owns 16,053 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,795,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.4% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 57,803 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,068,000 after acquiring an additional 3,484 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.93, for a total value of $218,505.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,186.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 311,348 shares of company stock valued at $154,678,120. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 target price (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.66.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $12.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $465.70. 14,222,388 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,931,730. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $493.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $475.36. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 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.