Absolute Capital Management LLC Acquires 114 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Absolute Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 605 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 622,844 shares of company stock worth $409,212,161 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $596.25 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $655.38 and its 200 day moving average is $605.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

About Meta Platforms

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.