Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,718 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,429 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.7% of Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,892,509 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
META stock traded down $26.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $504.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,506,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,475,943. 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 company's fifty day moving average is $651.00 and its 200-day moving average is $609.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.78%.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95 % 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 valued at $364,668,246 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $718.55.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
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.
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