Root Financial Partners LLC Has $748,000 Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of META stock opened at $518.45 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $491.44 and a 200-day moving average of $393.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $207.13 and a 1-year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.75.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total transaction of $7,183,368.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total value of $7,183,368.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.58, for a total value of $211,446.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,393,590.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,460,035 shares of company stock worth $691,937,607 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

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.