Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Everpar Advisors LLC

Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,190 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.8% of Everpar Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $612.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.22 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $596.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $556.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $370.95 and a twelve month high of $638.40.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,531.12. The trade was a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 496,174 shares of company stock worth $301,408,499 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.