Boston Family Office LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Boston Family Office LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,056 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the quarter. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

META stock opened at $586.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $653.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $610.68. 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 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,649,280. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 583,505 shares of company stock worth $385,495,911. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.