Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Raised by Prospect Financial Services LLC

Prospect Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 54.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,856 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,064 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.9% of Prospect Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Prospect Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ META opened at $689.18 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $387.10 and a twelve month high of $710.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $613.60 and its 200 day moving average is $565.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total value of $14,508,376.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,234.40. This represents a 97.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.76.

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.