Net Worth Advisory Group Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Net Worth Advisory Group raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,879 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.9% of Net Worth Advisory Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 953 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,506,000. Davis R M Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 120,725 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $70,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 2,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $15,731,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $607.60 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $658.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $603.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price target (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 690,689 shares of company stock worth $451,269,409. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.