Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by MBL Wealth LLC

MBL Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the quarter. MBL Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $4,223,148,000. Morgan Stanley purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $4,072,543,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $1,796,633,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,731,491,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $8.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $485.58. 15,212,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,086,339. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $202.54 and a fifty-two week high of $523.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $467.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $376.07. The company has a market cap of $1.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total value of $198,977.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,984 shares in the company, valued at $13,001,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,504,435 shares of company stock worth $703,629,367 in the last quarter. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $496.35.

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.