Meredith Wealth Planning Acquires 15 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.5% of Meredith Wealth Planning’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Meredith Wealth Planning’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NTV Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 8,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,917,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 251,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $147,459,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,586 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 6,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,878,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $683.62 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.42 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $647.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $591.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 809,804 shares of company stock worth $523,576,440. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.