Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson Buys Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares

Representative Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Illinois) recently bought shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META). In a filing disclosed on January 16th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Meta Platforms stock on December 9th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “MORGAN STANLEY TRUST ACCOUNT” account.

Representative Jonathan L. Jackson also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) on 12/16/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of O’Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ:ORLY) on 12/16/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of TIM (NYSE:TIMB) on 12/9/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) on 11/27/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) on 11/27/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) on 11/13/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) on 11/13/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) on 11/1/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) on 10/28/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) on 10/28/2024.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $1.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $612.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,239,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,812,479. The company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $370.95 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $596.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $556.39.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,612,808.90. The trade was a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

About Representative Jackson

Jonathan Jackson (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Illinois’ 1st Congressional District. Jackson assumed office on January 3, 2023. Jackson’s current term ends on January 3, 2025. Jackson (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois’ 1st Congressional District. Jackson declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Jonathan Jackson was born in Chicago, Illinois. Jackson graduated from Whitney Young High School. He earned an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. Jackson’s career experience includes working as an investment analyst and an entrepreneur.

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.