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

Hoge Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,248 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of Hoge Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Hoge Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total value of $13,830,734.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 809,804 shares of company stock valued at $523,576,440. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $683.62 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $647.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $591.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. 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 $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, 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 quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. 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 (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

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.