Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Fountainhead AM LLC

Fountainhead AM LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,100 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on META. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $14.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $496.10. The company had a trading volume of 14,985,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,131,002. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $495.52 and its 200 day moving average is $402.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.00, for a total value of $1,777,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,796,825. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,392,425 shares of company stock valued at $666,533,986 in the last three months. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.