Axiom Advisory LLC Acquires New Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Axiom Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 594 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $511.90 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $491.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $393.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on META. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.75.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total value of $7,183,368.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total value of $7,183,368.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,460,035 shares of company stock valued at $691,937,607. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.