Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Purchases 34 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,030 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. West Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 799 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 138.5% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 477 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Curran Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Curran Financial Partners LLC now owns 933 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Parkside Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $1,054,000. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,558 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $687.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $611.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $564.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $387.10 and a 12 month high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

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.