Viewpoint Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Viewpoint Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 38,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $22,441,000 after buying an additional 2,602 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 3,922 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,296,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 9,484 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,553,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 14,465 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,469,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total value of $511,596.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,362,687. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 770,701 shares of company stock worth $495,357,621. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $715.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $643.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $587.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 is 8.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.