Keystone Financial Group Buys 17,425 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Keystone Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 127.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,091 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 17,425 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.8% of Keystone Financial Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Keystone Financial Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $790.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.38.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of META stock opened at $543.57 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $628.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $609.11. 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 has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

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 firm earned $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total value of $500,462.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,943,062.60. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 487,453 shares of company stock worth $326,680,904. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.