Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Lifted by Paladin Wealth LLC

Paladin Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,765 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.9% of Paladin Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Paladin Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $736.67 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $638.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $584.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,362,687. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 751,033 shares of company stock valued at $480,911,671 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Company 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.