Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Van Strum & Towne Inc.

Van Strum & Towne Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 486 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,344,552,000 after buying an additional 424,201 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after buying an additional 186,728 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after buying an additional 110,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 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 assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.7 %

META opened at $582.36 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $656.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $604.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. 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 yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares in the company, valued at $19,649,280. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % 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 worth $414,365,524 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms 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.