PKS Advisory Services LLC Makes New $1.12 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

PKS Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,914 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,121,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Syverson Strege & Co purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $504,000. First American Trust FSB increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 32,486 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $19,020,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA now owns 2,079 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 36,273 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $21,238,000 after acquiring an additional 6,926 shares during the period. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 199,410 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $116,759,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $610.98 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $656.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $608.02. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,205,164.86. This trade represents a 8.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 586,213 shares of company stock worth $387,084,349 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

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.