Stratos Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Stratos Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,271 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,870 shares during the quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,620,000. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Old North State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 845 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Fusion Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Fusion Family Wealth LLC now owns 824 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $714.52 on Monday. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $627.23 and its 200-day moving average is $575.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $725.01.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $2,918,698.12. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 8,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,943,375.40. This represents a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 701,146 shares of company stock valued at $435,387,895 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.