Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Kestra Investment Management LLC

Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,058 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after purchasing an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 68,702 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,328,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 100,448 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $57,501,000 after acquiring an additional 4,735 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $668.13 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $647.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $593.08.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock valued at $525,534,818 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.