GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,919 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.5% of GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total transaction of $6,075,554.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. This trade represents a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 632,023 shares of company stock valued at $414,734,884. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $584.06 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $656.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $604.69.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.