Golden State Equity Partners Has $3.14 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1,917.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,367 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 5,101 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $1,142,000. Berry Wealth Group LP increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 1,492 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 73,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $43,218,000 after acquiring an additional 7,246 shares during the last quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bluesphere Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC now owns 1,753 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $711.99 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $718.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $624.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $572.13.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,329.64. This trade represents a 47.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $2,918,698.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 8,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,943,375.40. This trade represents a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 701,146 shares of company stock valued at $435,387,895 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $710.83.

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.