Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,940 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,731,078 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,013,590,000 after purchasing an additional 55,345 shares during the last quarter. III Capital Management grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. III Capital Management now owns 8,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,684,000 after purchasing an additional 4,276 shares in the last quarter. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,226,860 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $718,339,000 after buying an additional 17,633 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.0 %
Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $5.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $549.00. The company had a trading volume of 27,728,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,382,210. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $427.11 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $581.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $604.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 248,463 shares of company stock worth $175,403,314 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms recently issued reports on META. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $681.95.
Get Our Latest Research Report on META
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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