Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Has $4.77 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,133 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 583,505 shares of company stock valued at $385,495,911 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

META stock opened at $586.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $653.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $610.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.55.

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.