Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.0% of Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 8,806 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,117,000 after buying an additional 2,071 shares during the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.7% during the 4th quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,728,000 after buying an additional 1,825 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 375 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 40,306 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,267,000 after buying an additional 2,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Corp MA ADV grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 2,245 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.00, for a total transaction of $248,430.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,587,843. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.92, for a total value of $39,241,691.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.00, for a total value of $248,430.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,587,843. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,394,945 shares of company stock valued at $648,755,681 over the last ninety days. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $414.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $527.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.35.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $4.05 on Wednesday, hitting $491.84. The stock had a trading volume of 5,767,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,877,510. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.90 and a 52 week high of $523.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $462.33 and its 200 day moving average is $374.47. The company has a market cap of $1.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

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.