Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Lifted by Vertex Planning Partners LLC

Vertex Planning Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,012 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Vertex Planning Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $655.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $608.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on META. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.