Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by 1ST Source Bank

1ST Source Bank raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,341 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

META stock opened at $586.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $655.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $604.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market 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 research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.