Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 594 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $13.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $623.83. 14,750,081 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,528,432. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $592.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $552.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $358.61 and a 52-week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Truist Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total transaction of $8,023,999.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 420,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,869,360.30. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 410,536 shares of company stock valued at $249,024,275 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.