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Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,352 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 7,080 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.7% of Principal Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %
Shares of META opened at $683.62 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $647.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $591.24.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Argus set a $775.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.
View Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Company 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.
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