Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Boosted by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:METAFree Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 808 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.6% of Ballentine Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $34,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.1 %

META stock opened at $636.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $600.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $559.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.66 and a 52-week high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:METAGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $654.20.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms

About Meta Platforms

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

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