Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Boosted by Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC

Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,400 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EdgeRock Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,298 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 6,444 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,773,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 8,429 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,935,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 1,512 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the 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 $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 796,712 shares of company stock valued at $517,503,564. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $655.05 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $654.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $597.91. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis 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 8.78%.

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.