Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Synergy Asset Management LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 113.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,932 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,991 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.0% of Synergy Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Synergy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total transaction of $602,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,510,470. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $689.18 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $613.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $567.04. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $710.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.36%.

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.