Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Buys 252 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $697.46 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $616.25 and its 200-day moving average is $568.60. 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 market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 period last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $652,767.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,229 shares in the company, valued at $709,329.64. This represents a 47.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total value of $9,035,660.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 210,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $146,918,094.69. This represents a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 673,878 shares of company stock worth $416,269,904 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Profile

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.