Signaturefd LLC Purchases 957 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,259 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 957 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.6% of Signaturefd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $70,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of META opened at $584.06 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $656.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $604.69.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total transaction of $6,075,554.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 632,023 shares of company stock worth $414,734,884. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” 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 assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus 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.