Verum Partners LLC Invests $222,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Verum Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 627 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kaizen Financial Strategies lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 1,599 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Well Done LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. HT Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. HT Partners LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 8,806 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,071 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of META traded down $4.71 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $489.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,265,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,803,041. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $464.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $375.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $202.54 and a 1-year high of $523.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total transaction of $198,977.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,001,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total transaction of $198,977.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,001,725.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $513.32, for a total value of $251,526.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,148,086.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,504,435 shares of company stock worth $703,629,367. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Susquehanna upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $527.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.35.

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.