By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Bank OZK increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,883 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.2% of Bank OZK’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Bank OZK’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.3 %
META stock opened at $627.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $656.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $599.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared 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 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 is currently 8.78%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.
Read Our Latest Report on META
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.50, for a total value of $257,505.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,692,495.50. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 775,295 shares of company stock worth $504,237,715. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.
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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