Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Increased by Hobbs Group Advisors LLC

Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,373 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allstate Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3,242.7% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 64,881 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,988,000 after buying an additional 62,940 shares during the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $605,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 16,981 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 8,945 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,238,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 1,554,033 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $909,902,000 after purchasing an additional 42,509 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $655.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $608.48. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

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.