Trajan Wealth LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Trajan Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,850 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 5,883 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.3% of Trajan Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Trajan Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $60,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $9.86 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $530.13. 6,774,816 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,774,849. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $594.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $605.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 343,068 shares of company stock valued at $237,676,335. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $676.55.

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.