Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Net Worth Advisory Group

Net Worth Advisory Group increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,879 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Net Worth Advisory Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,035 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.63, for a total value of $13,631,512.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 690,689 shares of company stock valued at $451,269,409. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target 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 upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $607.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $658.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $603.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 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.