Financial Strategies Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 583 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Financial Strategies Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 583 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third 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 acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $499.95 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $493.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $396.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly 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 business 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 posted $3.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.28.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.90, for a total value of $3,500,100.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,086,721.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,439,788 shares of company stock valued at $684,542,792 in the last quarter. 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.