Matrix Trust Co Invests $166,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 284 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $166,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $608.33 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $594.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $554.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $358.61 and a 52 week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. The trade was a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 423,427 shares of company stock worth $256,996,450. 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.