Bfsg LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 58.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,265 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,011,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in 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 buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,906,009,000 after purchasing an additional 946,871 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,143,462 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,945,799,000 after purchasing an additional 111,735 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,865.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of META stock traded down $2.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $493.50. The stock had a trading volume of 33,517,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,341,254. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.13 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $495.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $402.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.