Main Street Research LLC Purchases 20,280 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Main Street Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,452 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,280 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.6% of Main Street Research LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,223,148,000. Morgan Stanley bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,072,543,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,796,633,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $1,731,491,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $500.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,481,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,085,754. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $492.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $394.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $958,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,757,883.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,459,469 shares of company stock valued at $691,726,161. 14.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.