Congress Asset Management Co. MA Has $149.78 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 308,459 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 20,846 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.1% of Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $149,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hyperion Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $234,000. Executive Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 200.0% during the first quarter. Executive Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. David J Yvars Group raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 25.5% during the first quarter. David J Yvars Group now owns 1,522 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 19.2% during the first quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,210 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sebold Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 52.9% during the first quarter. Sebold Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,054 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.82, for a total transaction of $39,079,125.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,169 shares of company stock worth $153,344,736. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $6.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $494.78. The stock had a trading volume of 23,130,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,120,400. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $478.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $447.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $531.49. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 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.