Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 35,582 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 611,610 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 35,582 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.5% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $358,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, LGL Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 2,834 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 653,450 shares of company stock valued at $427,997,036 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $604.90 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $657.51 and its 200 day moving average is $604.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

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.