Blair William & Co. IL Purchases 20,594 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 377,272 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,594 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $220,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.3 %

NASDAQ META traded down $25.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $576.74. 17,561,028 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,238,405. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $655.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $609.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

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, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at $19,607,740.16. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" 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 given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.31.

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.