Howe & Rusling Inc. Has $23.86 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,744 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.1% of Howe & Rusling Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $602.58 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $655.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $607.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

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.