S.A. Mason LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

S.A. Mason LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,308 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the quarter. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Edge Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Curated Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,013 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,443 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $6.15 on Wednesday, reaching $489.74. The company had a trading volume of 3,727,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,840,236. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.90 and a 52-week high of $523.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $462.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $374.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total transaction of $198,977.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,001,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total transaction of $198,977.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,001,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,394,945 shares of company stock worth $648,755,681. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.35.

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.