Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC

Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,810 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,266,531,000 after purchasing an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,344,552,000 after purchasing an additional 424,201 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after purchasing an additional 186,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after buying an additional 110,040 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction of $21,712,807.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 622,431 shares of company stock worth $408,968,491. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $23.30 during trading on Monday, reaching $619.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,714,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,812,127. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $655.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $606.39. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $718.31.

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.