Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,335 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $790.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on 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 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $701.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total value of $500,462.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at $15,943,062.60. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 487,453 shares of company stock valued at $326,680,904 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $2.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $543.57. The stock had a trading volume of 17,619,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,764,979. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $628.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $609.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.