UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 621 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 64.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,579 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.9% of UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $679.02.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded up $14.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $547.27. The company had a trading volume of 17,064,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,374,342. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $587.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $604.53. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $427.11 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.78%.

About Meta Platforms

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.