Prospect Financial Group LLC Invests $768,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Prospect Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.9% of Prospect Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings 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. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,885,000. Finally, KKM Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 13,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,516,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,318,548.24. This represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 585,605 shares of company stock worth $386,710,448. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $626.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $656.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $608.00. 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, 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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 represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.