Motiv8 Investments LLC Purchases 266 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Motiv8 Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,974 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third 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 buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after acquiring an additional 186,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,565,134 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,758,146,000 after acquiring an additional 289,207 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,019,340. This trade represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total transaction of $409,767.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,837,841.52. The trade was a 6.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 797,320 shares of company stock worth $517,913,331. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of META opened at $656.47 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $655.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $599.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

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.