Ascent Capital Management LLC Invests $1.17 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ascent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,994 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,168,000. Meta Platforms comprises 1.2% of Ascent Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,344,552,000 after acquiring an additional 424,201 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after acquiring an additional 186,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $584.06 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-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 business has a fifty day moving average of $656.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $604.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,523,445. The trade was a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 632,023 shares of company stock worth $414,734,884 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.