By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,045 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $612,000.
Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total transaction of $22,746,973.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 775,295 shares of company stock valued at $504,237,715. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of META opened at $627.93 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $656.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $599.31. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.
Read Our Latest Research Report on META
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.
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