Sierra Ocean LLC Takes $648,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,106 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $648,000. Meta Platforms makes up 0.5% of Sierra Ocean LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total value of $13,830,734.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 809,804 shares of company stock worth $523,576,440 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $683.62 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week 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 $647.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $591.96. The stock 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 (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.