Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases 834 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,324 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 834 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.1% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, VeraBank N.A. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 585,605 shares of company stock worth $386,710,448 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $626.31 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $656.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $608.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.