Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,370 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $802,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th 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 grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 255.9% during the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 118,992 shares of company stock valued at $82,831,650. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.4%

META stock traded up $15.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $654.56. The stock had a trading volume of 5,508,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,463,376. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $568.53 and a 200 day moving average of $605.22. 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 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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