PFG Investments LLC Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,303 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.7% of PFG Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. PFG Investments LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $27,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,606 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 889 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 83,468 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $48,871,000 after purchasing an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. OLIO Financial Planning purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $319,000. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 3,036 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,842,668.52. This trade represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock valued at $407,377,422 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.9 %

META stock traded up $12.93 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $689.42. 20,861,034 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,245,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $387.10 and a fifty-two week high of $710.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $608.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $563.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $698.98.

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.