Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by ICW Investment Advisors LLC

ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,248 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Sheets Smith Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $2,624,000. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 67.1% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,231 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,063,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Twin City Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,689 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,331,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 12,644 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,409,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 585,605 shares of company stock valued at $386,710,448. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $626.31 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $656.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $608.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 company posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 0.34%. 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.