Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Increased by W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 66,849 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 4.1% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $39,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $686.28, for a total transaction of $417,258.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,361,815.60. The trade was a 6.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $538,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,738,325. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 813,538 shares of company stock worth $526,326,729 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ META opened at $668.20 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $653.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $597.08.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.