Kestra Investment Management LLC Acquires 725 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,058 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ META traded up $12.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $669.88. The company had a trading volume of 9,932,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,715,486. The firm's 50 day moving average is $648.73 and its 200 day moving average is $594.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total value of $2,469,975.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total transaction of $238,503.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,068,173.34. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.