Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,407 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. now owns 24,520 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,356,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 231.5% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,481,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,830 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,953,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the period. Northwest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 22,188 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,991,000 after buying an additional 5,204 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $582.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $656.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $604.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’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 directly owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. The trade was a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 631,415 shares of company stock worth $414,365,524 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.