Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Founders Financial Alliance LLC

Founders Financial Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,024 shares in the company, valued at $19,649,280. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 690,689 shares of company stock valued at $451,269,409. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of META stock opened at $607.60 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $658.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $603.19. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.