Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Buys 12,972 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 235,392 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,972 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $137,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $597.14 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $570.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $603.99.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.00, for a total value of $359,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,480. This trade represents a 16.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 210,357 shares of company stock worth $148,449,468. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.