Everett Harris & Co. CA Acquires 49 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,094 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. This represents a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 673,878 shares of company stock worth $416,269,904. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $704.19 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $710.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $618.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $570.21. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

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.