Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Lifted by Lake Street Advisors Group LLC

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,838 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.6% of Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,946 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.84, for a total transaction of $14,268,740.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.50, for a total transaction of $257,505.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,692,495.50. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 796,712 shares of company stock valued at $517,503,564 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 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 given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $655.05 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $654.28 and a 200-day moving average of $597.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

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.