Burling Wealth Partners LLC Makes New $6.19 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Burling Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,566 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $6,186,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.3% of Burling Wealth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,633,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $9,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.1 %

META opened at $520.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $594.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $605.11. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. 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 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $676.55.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 343,068 shares of company stock valued at $237,676,335 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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