Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Capital Analysts LLC

Capital Analysts LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,886 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 38 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $499.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $493.16 and a 200 day moving average of $396.01. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,439,788 shares of company stock worth $684,542,792. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.28.

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.