Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Strategic Advocates LLC

Strategic Advocates LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,238 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 889 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.6% of Strategic Advocates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Strategic Advocates LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,318,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,471,822,000 after purchasing an additional 550,852 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $697.46 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $710.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $616.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total transaction of $9,035,660.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 210,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $146,918,094.69. The trade was a 5.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 673,878 shares of company stock valued at $416,269,904 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.