Northwest Wealth Management LLC Acquires 220 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Northwest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,487 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake 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 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $604.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $657.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.41. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,576,930. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 653,450 shares of company stock valued at $427,997,036 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

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.