Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s 9th Largest Position

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,738 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,194 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $133,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % 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, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. The trade was a 2.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $655.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $609.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly 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 business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

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.