Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Raised by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,451 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.1% of Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $26,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $625,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 38.6% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 20,773 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $11,891,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on META. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $575.12. The stock had a trading volume of 14,540,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,241,163. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $655.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $609.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.