Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Purchases 4,568 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,627 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,568 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ META opened at $605.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $657.45 and its 200-day moving average is $601.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase 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 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price target (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total transaction of $567,127.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,760,768.50. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 725,081 shares of company stock worth $472,702,625. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.