Astra Wealth Partners LLC Acquires New Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Astra Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 826 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $26.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $504.73. 38,506,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,428,284. 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 has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $648.15 and a 200 day moving average of $609.75.

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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,467,522.10. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $718.55.

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.