Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Phillips Financial Management LLC

Phillips Financial Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 972 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Phillips Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $569,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total value of $6,075,554.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 653,450 shares of company stock worth $427,997,036. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company 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 issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of META stock opened at $604.90 on Tuesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $657.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current 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 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. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.