Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Sargent Investment Group LLC

Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,856 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Stonebrook Private Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $1,339,000. Omnia Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,807 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,104 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,222,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Finally, PGGM Investments grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 144,137 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,019,000 after purchasing an additional 38,485 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

META stock traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $404.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,865.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.