Proficio Capital Partners LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 38.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $311,417,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $607.60 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $658.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $603.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,576,930. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value 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 approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 654,355 shares of company stock worth $428,564,164 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 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 given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.