Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Fortitude Family Office LLC

Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 84.4% in the fourth quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 18,489 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,424,000 after acquiring an additional 8,464 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,810 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,086,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 22,852 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,380,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Private Client Services LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 446 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 410,536 shares of company stock worth $249,024,275 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2 %

META stock opened at $610.72 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $592.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $552.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $355.36 and a 52-week high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.