Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 20,357 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 118,214 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 20,357 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $69,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.3 %

NASDAQ META traded up $24.81 on Friday, hitting $597.02. 24,702,127 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,455,871. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $575.29 and a 200-day moving average of $603.99. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month 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 the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Pivotal Research lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.