Northside Capital Management LLC Has $211.92 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Northside Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28,314.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,686 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 366,392 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 34.4% of Northside Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Northside Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $211,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of META stock opened at $666.85 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $581.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $612.48. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total transaction of $328,506.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,632,409.58. The trade was a 4.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,135 shares of company stock worth $34,481,779 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.