Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Nicolet Advisory Services LLC

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total value of $571,552.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,215,915.50. The trade was a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,507,676.90. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 584,113 shares of company stock worth $385,838,234 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded 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. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of META stock opened at $583.93 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $653.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $610.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

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.