By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,268,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 3.0% of Sherman Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, LGL Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 2,834 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total value of $409,767.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,837,841.52. This represents a 6.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total transaction of $593,124.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,860,580. The trade was a 2.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 775,295 shares of company stock valued at $504,237,715 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on META
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Meta Platforms stock opened at $625.66 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $656.39 and a 200-day moving average of $599.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.
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.
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