Ascent Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 1,994 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ascent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,994 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,168,000. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.2% of Ascent Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $584.06 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. 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 fifty day moving average price of $656.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $604.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company’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 value of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,576,930. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 632,023 shares of company stock worth $414,734,884 in the last three months. 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.