WCM Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,399 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 4,790 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 14,140 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,362 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Santori & Peters Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Santori & Peters Inc. now owns 498 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of META opened at $736.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $638.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $582.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total transaction of $10,320,386.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,888,979.95. This represents a 28.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 793,070 shares of company stock worth $504,185,108 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.