Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Increased by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 133,222 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.4% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $78,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,663,600. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,016 shares of company stock worth $346,031,180 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $636.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $600.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $559.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $385.66 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.