Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by PFC Capital Group Inc.

PFC Capital Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,110 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 25 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.4% of PFC Capital Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. PFC Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $625,000. Finally, Avala Global LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.5% during the third quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 47,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,420,000 after purchasing an additional 16,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META opened at $576.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $654.50 and a 200-day moving average of $610.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. This is an increase 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 is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’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 $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 583,505 shares of company stock worth $385,495,911 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms 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.