Old Port Advisors Has $1.83 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Old Port Advisors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,116 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $640.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total value of $241,080.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,973,238.58. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 326,211 shares of company stock worth $197,633,759. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $14.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $599.68. 4,050,158 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,682,313. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $588.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $547.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $343.17 and a 12 month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.