O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 227,738 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,194 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $133,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %
Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $586.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,228,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,257,182. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $653.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $610.68. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms have recently commented on META. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.55.
View Our Latest Research Report on META
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 583,505 shares of company stock valued at $385,495,911 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
About Meta Platforms
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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.
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