Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by First National Advisers LLC

First National Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,327 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.3% of First National Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on META. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’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 $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total value of $6,075,554.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 632,023 shares of company stock worth $414,734,884 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ META opened at $584.06 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $656.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.69.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost 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 dividend 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.