Smart Money Group LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,704 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the quarter. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $651.27.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,531.12. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 531,190 shares of company stock valued at $322,938,501. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $616.46 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $381.16 and a 1-year high of $638.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $598.00 and a 200-day moving average of $558.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.
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.
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