Lodestone Wealth Management LLC Invests $2.01 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,426 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,006,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total transaction of $13,830,734.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock valued at $523,808,864. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $683.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $647.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $590.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms 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.