Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Lee Financial Co

Lee Financial Co grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,995 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $261,680,000 after purchasing an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 113,499 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,971,000 after buying an additional 2,211 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4.2% during the third quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Altus Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 8.3% during the third quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 747 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $683.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $647.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $591.24. 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 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price target (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total transaction of $13,830,734.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.