Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 230 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.8% of Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $687.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $611.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $564.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $387.10 and a 12 month high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted 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. Pivotal Research upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms 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.