Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,951 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 567,111 shares of company stock worth $345,453,784. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $623.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $382.08 and a 1-year high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $598.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $558.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on META. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $652.98.

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.