Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Scholtz & Company LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Scholtz & Company LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,838 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 4.7% of Scholtz & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Scholtz & Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 160,717 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $95,022,000 after purchasing an additional 22,988 shares during the period. OV Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. OV Management LLC now owns 10,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,226,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,539,000. May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $2,849,000. Finally, Invenio Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,984 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.55.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 583,505 shares of company stock valued at $385,495,911 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $576.36 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $654.50 and its 200 day moving average is $610.25. 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 capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. 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 dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.