PFG Private Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

PFG Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 605 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the last quarter. Presidio Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the third quarter. Presidio Capital Management LLC now owns 661 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 86,644 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the third quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. now owns 741 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total value of $567,127.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,760,768.50. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm’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 $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 725,081 shares of company stock valued at $472,702,625. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $605.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $657.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $601.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

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.