By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,181 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV now owns 2,421 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,418,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. FSR Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $1,699,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc raised its position in Meta Platforms by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 190,942 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,798,000 after buying an additional 17,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elser Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $319,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %
Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $736.67 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. 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 capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $638.73 and a 200-day moving average of $583.52.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total value of $8,162,353.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total value of $10,320,386.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,888,979.95. The trade was a 28.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.
Get 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.
Further Reading
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