Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $58.35 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 49.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 99,649 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,108 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $58,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Argus set a $775.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $625.66 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $656.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $600.95.

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 earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is an increase 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 presently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 761,907 shares of company stock valued at $496,008,888. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.