Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Acquires 5,169 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,053 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,169 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of Freestone Capital Holdings LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $625,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,437 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 725,081 shares of company stock valued at $472,702,625. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $605.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a PEG 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $657.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $601.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.

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