Park Edge Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Park Edge Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,906 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Park Edge Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,842,668.52. This trade represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock valued at $407,377,422. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $12.93 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $689.42. 20,861,034 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,245,674. The company has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company's 50-day moving average price is $608.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $563.58. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $387.10 and a 52-week high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.