Almanack Investment Partners LLC. Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Almanack Investment Partners LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Almanack Investment Partners LLC.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total transaction of $10,320,386.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,888,979.95. The trade was a 28.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $728.56 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $636.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $580.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $729.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

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.