Waddell & Associates LLC Buys 45 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,389 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Texas Yale Capital Corp. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 579 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 74,924 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $43,869,000 after buying an additional 3,775 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 92,732 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $54,295,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Straightline Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $347,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $782,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 498,899 shares of company stock valued at $333,868,573. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $790.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $713.07.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $510.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $638.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $609.42.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.