Howe & Rusling Inc. Has $23.86 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 40,744 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.1% of Howe & Rusling Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $980,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 174,315 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $102,063,000 after acquiring an additional 4,747 shares in the last quarter. BIT Capital GmbH grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. BIT Capital GmbH now owns 77,553 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $45,408,000 after acquiring an additional 23,818 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 616,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $361,109,000 after acquiring an additional 26,412 shares during the period. Finally, Moment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $970,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $602.58 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $655.95 and a 200-day moving average of $607.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.