Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Has $14.36 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,520 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.5% of Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,576,930. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 631,415 shares of company stock valued at $414,365,524. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report 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 assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $582.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $656.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $604.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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 quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 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.