Axis Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 608 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $356,000.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $16.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $607.60. 12,340,889 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,669,884. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $658.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $602.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.
In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total transaction of $567,127.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,760,768.50. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,318,548.24. This represents a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 690,689 shares of company stock valued at $451,269,409. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.26.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on META
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.
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