Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Buys 521 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,476 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $608.33 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $358.61 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $594.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $554.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total transaction of $22,746,973.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 423,427 shares of company stock valued at $256,996,450. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

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.