Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by IronBridge Private Wealth LLC

IronBridge Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 462 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. IronBridge Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Landing Point Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $775,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,918,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 393,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $230,339,000 after acquiring an additional 23,227 shares during the period. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC now owns 2,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 673,831 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $394,535,000 after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $501.48 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $608.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $607.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, 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 has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $255,234.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,057,950. This represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,663,600. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 379,901 shares of company stock worth $260,806,516. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $684.10.

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.