MBL Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

MBL Wealth LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. MBL Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after purchasing an additional 249,926 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $8.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $485.58. 15,212,764 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,086,339. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $202.54 and a 52-week high of $523.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $467.03 and its 200-day moving average is $376.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.32, for a total transaction of $251,526.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,148,086.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,504,435 shares of company stock valued at $703,629,367 over the last quarter. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.35.

Meta Platforms Company 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.