By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,207 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.0% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of META stock opened at $597.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $657.04 and its two-hundred day 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.
Insider Activity
In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total transaction of $22,351,483.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 761,002 shares of company stock valued at $495,449,598. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Truist Financial raised 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. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms 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.
See Also
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