Nilsine Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Nilsine Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,246 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $687.00 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $387.10 and a twelve month high of $710.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $611.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $564.44.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total value of $602,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,510,470. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

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.