By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Westover Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,832 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.9% of Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,785 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,188,000 after buying an additional 1,575 shares during the period. BNC Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,187,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 3,432 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.4 %
NASDAQ:META opened at $597.99 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $657.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $601.41. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 target price (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on META
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total transaction of $22,351,483.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total value of $567,127.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,760,768.50. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 761,002 shares of company stock valued at $495,449,598 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Company 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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Meta Platforms Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Meta Platforms and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.