Nutshell Asset Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 11,963 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Nutshell Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 11,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,004,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 4.4% of Nutshell Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $504.73 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $648.15 and its 200 day moving average is $609.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on META. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.55.

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.