ZEGA Investments LLC Buys Shares of 5,213 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,213 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,375,000. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.8% of ZEGA Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Atlas Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Wealth LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,375,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC now owns 942 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 271.0% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 115 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an "overweight" 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.31.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,477,780.40. This trade represents 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 sold 586,213 shares of company stock valued at $387,084,349. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $8.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $602.58. The stock had a trading volume of 10,412,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,822,863. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $656.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $608.02. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.