HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $29.77 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,845 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.7% of HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $576.74 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $655.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $609.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. 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 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

About Meta Platforms

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.