Americana Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,026 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,862 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $683.62 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $647.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $591.96. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at $21,362,687. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 809,804 shares of company stock valued at $523,576,440. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

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.