Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Ithaka Group LLC

Ithaka Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 41,274 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,422 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 4.5% of Ithaka Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 target price (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,649,280. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 653,450 shares of company stock worth $427,997,036. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $604.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $657.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $604.41.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities 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 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 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.