Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,661 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,066 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.7% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $56,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.84, for a total transaction of $14,268,740.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.50, for a total value of $257,505.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,692,495.50. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 797,320 shares of company stock valued at $517,913,331 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.6 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $656.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $655.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $599.11. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.