4,482 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Acquired by Sheets Smith Investment Management

Sheets Smith Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 4,482 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,624,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.2% of Sheets Smith Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,231 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Twin City Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,689 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,331,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 12,644 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,409,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $252,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 585,605 shares of company stock valued at $386,710,448 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of META stock opened at $626.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $656.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $608.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. This is an increase 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 presently 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.