Lynch & Associates IN Has $1.07 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lynch & Associates IN lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,834 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 5,864 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,433,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 594 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,395 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,932 shares in the last quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its position in Meta Platforms by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 796 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of META traded up $5.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $615.86. 19,216,416 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,336,346. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $358.61 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $592.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $552.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 410,536 shares of company stock worth $249,024,275. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.