Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Lifted by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174,656 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,544 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of HM Payson & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $102,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $619.56 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $658.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $602.08.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 725,689 shares of company stock worth $473,072,897 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.