SwitchPoint Financial Planning LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

SwitchPoint Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 360 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 14,560 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,525,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981 shares in the last quarter. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $323,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $975,000. BG Investment Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $231,000. Finally, Momentous Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $617,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total value of $1,387,085.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 586,213 shares of company stock valued at $387,084,349. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $610.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $656.12 and its 200-day moving average is $608.02. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly 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 earned $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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 0.34%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

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.