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Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 13,043 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms logo with Computer and Technology background

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 34.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,228 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,043 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $650.05.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. The trade was a 2.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 496,174 shares of company stock worth $301,408,499 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2 %

META stock traded up $1.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $612.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,239,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,812,479. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $370.95 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business's 50 day moving average price is $596.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $556.71. The company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

(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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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

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