Goodman Advisory Group LLC Buys 2,857 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Goodman Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 75.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,857 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Goodman Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Goodman Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of META stock opened at $501.48 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $612.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $607.32. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,663,600. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.