Chung Wu Investment Group LLC Purchases New Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 6,161 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,607,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.6% of Chung Wu Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $70,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $605.71 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $657.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $601.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total transaction of $593,124.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,860,580. The trade was a 2.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total transaction of $409,767.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,837,841.52. This represents a 6.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 725,081 shares of company stock valued at $472,702,625. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.