McCarthy Asset Management Inc. Purchases 140 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

McCarthy Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,438 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.3% of McCarthy Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. McCarthy Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

META traded up $1.91 on Friday, hitting $443.29. The company had a trading volume of 32,645,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $494.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $404.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $229.85 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

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.