Abner Herrman & Brock LLC Buys 5,578 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Abner Herrman & Brock LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 34.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,944 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 5,578 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.6% of Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at $21,362,687. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 701,146 shares of company stock valued at $435,387,895. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $714.52 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $725.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $627.23 and a 200-day moving average of $573.70.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Company 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.