Asio Capital LLC Has $13.51 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Asio Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,432 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.6% of Asio Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $730,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,296 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $22,649,000 after acquiring an additional 4,745 shares during the period. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors now owns 4,183 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SFM LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,089,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 84,672 shares of company stock valued at $55,455,647 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.88.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:META opened at $702.12 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $607.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $620.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

About Meta Platforms

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.