WD Rutherford LLC Takes $982,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WD Rutherford LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,023 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $982,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0 %

META traded down $15.34 on Friday, reaching $504.22. 15,855,137 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,400,792. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $531.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $453.93. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 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 quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of 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 is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.75, for a total value of $238,507.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,166,093.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 233,512 shares of company stock worth $113,597,536. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research 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 issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

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.