Sandbox Financial Partners LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sandbox Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,281 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.0% of Sandbox Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $612.77 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $597.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $557.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $370.95 and a 12 month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total value of $22,133,083.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 495,269 shares of company stock valued at $300,888,396. 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.