Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. VeraBank N.A. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, LGL Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 2,834 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $619.56 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $658.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $602.08. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 period last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Citigroup boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total transaction of $22,351,483.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 725,689 shares of company stock worth $473,072,897. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.