Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,034 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $605,000.
Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during 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 in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $625,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 20,773 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $11,891,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Meta Platforms stock traded down $1.29 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $575.45. The company had a trading volume of 14,540,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,241,163. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $655.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $609.90.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company 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 given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.55.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This represents a 2.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Nuclear energy stocks are roaring. It's the hottest energy sector of the year. Cameco Corp, Paladin Energy, and BWX Technologies were all up more than 40% in 2024. The biggest market moves could still be ahead of us, and there are seven nuclear energy stocks that could rise much higher in the next several months. To unlock these tickers, enter your email address below.
Get This Free Report
