Naviter Wealth LLC Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 74.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,041 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,288 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.2% of Naviter Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price target (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report 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 assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total transaction of $260,008.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,546,130.40. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 690,689 shares of company stock valued at $451,269,409 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $590.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $657.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $602.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.