Forefront Wealth Management Inc. Invests $2.58 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Forefront Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,407 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $2,580,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.4% of Forefront Wealth Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,614,962 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $945,581,000 after acquiring an additional 39,479 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,268,104 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,670,038,000 after purchasing an additional 26,396 shares during the period. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $600,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 206,615 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $120,975,000 after buying an additional 64,947 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 210.6% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 33,143 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $19,405,000 after buying an additional 22,471 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $8.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $602.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,412,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,822,886. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $656.12 and a 200-day moving average of $608.02. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total transaction of $1,387,085.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 587,134 shares of company stock valued at $387,661,862. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms 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.