Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 956 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $560,000.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,188,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $251,000. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $204,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction of $21,712,807.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 622,431 shares of company stock worth $408,968,491 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $23.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $619.55. 15,714,384 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,812,127. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $655.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $606.39. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.31.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on META
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Options trading isn’t just for the Wall Street elite; it’s an accessible strategy for anyone armed with the proper knowledge. Think of options as a strategic toolkit, with each tool designed for a specific financial task. Get this report to learn how options trading can help you use the market’s volatility to your advantage.
Get This Free Report
