Davidson Investment Advisors Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Davidson Investment Advisors purchased 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 Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 405 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $261,680,000 after acquiring an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 853 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 68,702 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $39,328,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 100,448 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $57,501,000 after acquiring an additional 4,735 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total value of $238,503.37. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,068,173.34. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $12.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $669.88. 9,932,976 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,715,486. 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 moving average of $648.73 and a 200 day moving average of $594.06. The company has a market cap of $1.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.26.

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.