Axis Wealth Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Axis Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 608 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,102 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Jordan Park Trust Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $244,000. Barings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Barings LLC now owns 2,224 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 42,809 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,065,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,262,991 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,824,934,000 after purchasing an additional 795,570 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.7 %

META stock opened at $590.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $657.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $602.00. 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 current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total value of $567,127.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,760,768.50. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total transaction of $260,008.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,546,130.40. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 690,689 shares of company stock valued at $451,269,409 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.