Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Has $3.06 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,649 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 523 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.2% of Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Stockton raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $269,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $11.90 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $506.07. The stock had a trading volume of 3,871,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,891,867. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $493.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $396.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $518.15.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

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.