Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after purchasing an additional 186,728 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,362,687. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 751,033 shares of company stock valued at $480,911,671. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of META opened at $736.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $641.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $585.97. 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 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 period last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.