David J Yvars Group Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

David J Yvars Group grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,661 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.6% of David J Yvars Group’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. David J Yvars Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after buying an additional 7,089 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 31.0% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. RS Crum Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the second quarter. RS Crum Inc. now owns 1,062 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,251 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3 %

META stock opened at $594.25 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $595.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $554.81. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $358.61 and a 52 week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 423,427 shares of company stock worth $256,996,450 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.05.

About Meta Platforms

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.