Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Purchases 937 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,520 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 937 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.5% of Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $10,576,930. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 631,415 shares of company stock valued at $414,365,524 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $582.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $656.80 and its 200 day moving average is $604.84. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

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.