Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 22,729 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $13,300,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,001,044,000 after buying an additional 1,229,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $597.02 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $575.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $603.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total value of $9,169,692.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,046 shares in the company, valued at $121,588,349.12. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 223,629 shares of company stock worth $157,894,751. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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 report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

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.

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