Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Has $8.23 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,059 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $3.69 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $616.46. The company had a trading volume of 11,571,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,100,104. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $381.16 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The firm's fifty day moving average is $597.37 and its 200-day moving average is $557.77.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $651.27.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 495,269 shares of company stock valued at $300,888,396. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.