Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC Buys 973 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,340 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 973 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.8% of Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares in the company, valued at $10,467,522.10. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total transaction of $8,023,999.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 420,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,869,360.30. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $504.73 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $648.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $610.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Meta Platforms 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.