Cynosure Group LLC Purchases 470 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cynosure Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,739 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $10.61 during trading on Monday, hitting $487.40. 12,011,610 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,234,402. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $542.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $493.79 and a 200-day moving average of $473.07.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 311,518 shares of company stock worth $154,738,587. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.33.

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.