Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Leeward Financial Partners LLC

Leeward Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 611 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Leeward Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. United Bank grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,351,266 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $773,519,000 after purchasing an additional 43,661 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 549,113 shares of company stock valued at $364,668,246. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $531.62 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $651.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $609.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.