Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA

LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 354 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. United Bank raised its position in Meta Platforms by 22.2% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 7,308 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,183,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 18,662 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,682,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 654,355 shares of company stock valued at $428,564,164. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.9 %

META opened at $607.60 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $658.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $603.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Meta Platforms 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.