Traction Financial Partners LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Traction Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 382 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $668.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $647.97 and a 200-day moving average of $593.08. 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.

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 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 previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $538,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,738,325. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

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.