2,777 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Acquired by SLT Holdings LLC

SLT Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,777 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,626,000. Meta Platforms makes up 1.5% of SLT Holdings LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

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 in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,035 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.63, for a total transaction of $13,631,512.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 690,689 shares of company stock worth $451,269,409. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $607.60 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $658.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $602.61. 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. 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 (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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.