Argentarii LLC Takes $2.34 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Argentarii LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,989 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,335,000. Meta Platforms comprises 1.2% of Argentarii LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Horan Securities Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 774 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $91,776,000. Kendall Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 73.3% in the 4th quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 3,029 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Coordinated Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $875,000. Finally, Axis Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $356,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.7 %

META opened at $590.64 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $657.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $602.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total transaction of $260,008.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 18,340 shares in the company, valued at $11,546,130.40. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.