Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Invests $1.46 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,128 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,461,000. Meta Platforms comprises 1.5% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $500.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.49, for a total transaction of $15,464,732.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,495,417 shares of company stock worth $704,932,669 over the last 90 days. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $519.25 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.13 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $483.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $387.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

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.