Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Root Financial Partners LLC

Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,237 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 688 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.4% of Root Financial Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Root Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $261,680,000 after buying an additional 112,047 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.0% during the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 4,409 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,524,000 after buying an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. AIFG Consultants Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $246,000. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 13.3% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 914 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,362,687. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 810,217 shares of company stock valued at $523,808,864 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $7.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $687.35. The company had a trading volume of 9,296,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,553,415. 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 one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $645.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $589.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $717.90.

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.