Choate Investment Advisors Purchases 2,021 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Choate Investment Advisors raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,433 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of META stock opened at $582.36 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $656.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $604.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total transaction of $6,075,554.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 631,415 shares of company stock valued at $414,365,524. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.