Zhang Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,068 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 804 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.90, for a total value of $3,500,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,086,721.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.90, for a total value of $3,500,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,086,721.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of META stock traded down $19.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $482.49. 16,907,539 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,044,914. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $494.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $397.43.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.53.

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.