Alta Advisers Ltd Has $4.26 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Alta Advisers Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,280 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.7% of Alta Advisers Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Alta Advisers Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.6 %

META stock traded up $14.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $547.27. The company had a trading volume of 17,064,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,720,244. The company has a 50 day moving average of $590.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $604.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total transaction of $602,730.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,510,470. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "positive" 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-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $676.55.

About Meta Platforms

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.