Howard Financial Services LTD. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 73.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,775 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $612.77 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $596.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $557.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $370.95 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. The trade was a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.