David J Yvars Group Purchases 205 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

David J Yvars Group grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,661 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.6% of David J Yvars Group’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. David J Yvars Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of META opened at $594.25 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $358.61 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $595.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $554.81.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total value of $520,103.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. This represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 423,427 shares of company stock valued at $256,996,450 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

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.