FFG Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

FFG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 88.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,745 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,995 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 5.7% of FFG Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. FFG Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.8 %

META opened at $725.38 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $634.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $579.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $727.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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, 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Citigroup boosted 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. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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 assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $717.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $2,918,698.12. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 8,565 shares in the company, valued at $4,943,375.40. This represents a 37.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 812,198 shares of company stock worth $515,102,208. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.