Jones Financial Companies Lllp Acquires 62,644 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 44.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 204,518 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,644 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $119,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during 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 during the period. Finally, LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

META opened at $625.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $656.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $600.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 775,295 shares of company stock valued at $504,237,715. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.