HF Advisory Group LLC Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

HF Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,307 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.4% of HF Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $14.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $508.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,332,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,902,320. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $493.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $396.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $207.13 and a 1-year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $518.15.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock valued at $684,796,490. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.