Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Buys 8,861 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,435 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,861 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.6% of Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $60,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $655.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $608.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.