Allstate Corp Buys 62,940 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Allstate Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3,242.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,881 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,940 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of Allstate Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $576.74 on Friday. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $655.23 and its 200 day moving average is $608.48.

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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,318,548.24. The trade was a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company 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 given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.