Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 77 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 77 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $679.02.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $547.27 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $427.11 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $587.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $604.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 285,289 shares of company stock valued at $200,201,352. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.