Aldebaran Financial Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aldebaran Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,083 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.1% of Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Investment Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 514 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,000. Arvin Capital Management LP bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $4,136,000. SIH Partners LLLP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $5,592,000. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 893,682 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $523,260,000 after purchasing an additional 119,136 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 378,583 shares of company stock valued at $259,991,992. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $484.66 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $603.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $606.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $681.67.

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.