Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Ferguson Shapiro LLC

Ferguson Shapiro LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 743 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Shapiro LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $689.18 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $387.10 and a 52 week high of $710.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $613.60 and a 200-day moving average of $567.04.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. 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 report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $710.83.

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.