Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. Has $12.21 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,861 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.5% of Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3 %

META opened at $668.13 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $647.97 and its 200 day moving average is $593.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total transaction of $2,469,975.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

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.