Warther Private Wealth LLC Acquires 100 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 493 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $736.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $641.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $585.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders 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 represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total value of $14,194,198.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 751,033 shares of company stock valued at $480,911,671. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

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.