Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Increased by Secure Asset Management LLC

Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,491 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of Secure Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $647.49 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $601.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $560.51. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $385.66 and a 12-month high of $652.00. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,262,708.20. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.