Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC

Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 640.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 740 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its holdings 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 valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $501.48. 14,540,656 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,827,120. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's fifty day moving average is $608.14 and its 200 day moving average is $606.80. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $684.10.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $255,234.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,057,950. The trade was a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 379,901 shares of company stock worth $260,806,516 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.