Seascape Capital Management Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Seascape Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 985 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Seascape Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $511.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $491.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $392.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.13 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total value of $7,183,368.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total value of $7,183,368.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,460,035 shares of company stock worth $691,937,607 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on META. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.75.

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.