Syverson Strege & Co Invests $504,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Syverson Strege & Co 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 Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 861 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $22.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $580.50. 8,123,490 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,206,572. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $655.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $607.98. 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 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.