Compound Global Advisors LLC Invests $1.41 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Compound Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,400 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,000. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 5.7% of Compound Global Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at $21,362,687. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 751,033 shares of company stock worth $480,911,671 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $736.67 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $638.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $584.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

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.