Northstar Asset Management Inc. Makes New $269,000 Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Northstar Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 460 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $13.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $670.71. 9,932,976 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,715,486. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $648.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $594.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Company 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.