Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lifted by Larson Financial Group LLC

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total value of $7,722,037.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,391,935 shares of company stock worth $666,288,408 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on META. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ META traded up $11.80 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $493.53. 8,053,038 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,032,316. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $401.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

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.