Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Increased by Bennett Selby Investments LP

Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 34,672 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 8.1% of Bennett Selby Investments LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Bennett Selby Investments LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total value of $10,320,386.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,888,979.95. This trade represents a 28.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total value of $23,160,423.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 603,032 shares of company stock valued at $368,666,614. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $659.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $604.04 and a 200 day moving average of $561.55. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $387.10 and a fifty-two week high of $663.87.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.