Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 75.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,142 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 51,352 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $30,067,000 after acquiring an additional 7,080 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 45,262 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,501,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 16,291 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,539,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $543,000. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76.8% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

META stock opened at $683.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $647.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $591.24. The company 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.