Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 8,303 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,303 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,862,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $261,680,000 after acquiring an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 72.2% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,228 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,138,000 after purchasing an additional 3,031 shares during the last quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the third quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fusion Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 16.8% in the third quarter. Fusion Family Wealth LLC now owns 749 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $736.67 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $638.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $584.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 751,033 shares of company stock worth $480,911,671. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a 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 issued 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 an average price target of $717.90.

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.