Horizon Investment Services LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Horizon Investment Services LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,945 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 467 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.2% of Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,344,552,000 after purchasing an additional 424,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after purchasing an additional 186,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $655.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $608.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost 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 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.