Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Increased by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 105.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,682 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,603 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Capital Analysts LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 2,886 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Private Client Services LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $322,000. Keel Point LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 8,062 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 248 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 12,967 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,590,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $4.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $504.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,863,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,033,943. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $207.13 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $492.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $394.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total value of $7,183,368.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,459,469 shares of company stock worth $691,726,161 over the last ninety days. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.