Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Has $22.12 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,777 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 658 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.4% of Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. The trade was a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total value of $552,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,103 shares in the company, valued at $19,269,825.75. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 622,844 shares of company stock worth $409,212,161. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price target (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $596.25 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $655.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $605.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

About Meta Platforms

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.