Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Increased by Savvy Advisors Inc.

Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,072 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 827 shares during the quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.38.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $543.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $628.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $609.11. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was 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 presently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.69, for a total transaction of $21,721,069.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 487,453 shares of company stock worth $326,680,904. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.