Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Boosted by Dearborn Partners LLC

Dearborn Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 953 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $558,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGL Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 2,834 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total value of $260,008.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,340 shares in the company, valued at $11,546,130.40. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 690,689 shares of company stock worth $451,269,409 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $607.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $658.01 and its 200 day moving average is $603.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.