Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Boosted by Centerpoint Advisors LLC

Centerpoint Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 73.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,416 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,023 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.5% of Centerpoint Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Centerpoint Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAM Holding AG raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 68,035 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $39,835,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,132 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $27,011,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288 shares in the last quarter. Northstar Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $269,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 75,732 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,342,000 after purchasing an additional 4,260 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 432,122 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $253,012,000 after acquiring an additional 10,741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total value of $238,503.37. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,068,173.34. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock valued at $525,534,818. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $13.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $670.71. The stock had a trading volume of 9,932,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,715,486. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $648.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $594.06.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Meta Platforms 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.