Centerpoint Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Centerpoint Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 73.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,416 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.5% of Centerpoint Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Centerpoint Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during 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 period. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during 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 period. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $668.13 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $647.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $593.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. 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 yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total transaction of $238,503.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,068,173.34. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,607,740.16. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 812,422 shares of company stock valued at $525,534,818 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently 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.