Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Has $5.65 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,641 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.9 %

META opened at $659.88 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $387.10 and a twelve month high of $663.87. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $604.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $561.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 603,032 shares of company stock valued at $368,666,614 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 price objective (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

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.