Northeast Financial Consultants Inc Purchases 430 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Northeast Financial Consultants Inc boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 31.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,818 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $677,920.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,341,737.09. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,324 shares of company stock valued at $68,637,452 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $656.03 on Wednesday. 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 $569.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $605.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.