Flputnam Investment Management Co. Purchases 9,603 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 105.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,682 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,603 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Bank of Stockton increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $269,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total transaction of $7,183,368.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total transaction of $217,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,286 shares in the company, valued at $13,585,110. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total transaction of $7,183,368.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,459,469 shares of company stock worth $691,726,161. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $4.37 on Tuesday, hitting $504.60. 1,863,592 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,033,943. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $492.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $394.61. 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 market cap of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

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.