Generation Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Generation Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,848 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,253,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.9% of Generation Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $501.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $612.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $607.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,663,600. This trade represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.