Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,324 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.1% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 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 $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James restated 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. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $22.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $580.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,123,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,206,572. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The business's 50-day moving average is $655.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $607.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. 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 yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

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.