Peregrine Investment Management Inc. Invests $8.95 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Peregrine Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 15,280 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $8,947,000. Meta Platforms accounts for 5.2% of Peregrine Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

META stock traded down $11.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $683.62. 15,609,265 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,022,064. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $647.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $590.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,362,687. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock valued at $523,808,864. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.