Root Financial Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,237 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 688 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.4% of Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 175,109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $102,528,000 after purchasing an additional 37,313 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 24,703 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,464,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,400 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,918,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 952,593 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $571,336,000 after acquiring an additional 15,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at $21,362,687. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $703.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $644.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $588.38. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Company 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.