5,184 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Acquired by Saxon Interests Inc.

Saxon Interests Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,184 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,835,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.9% of Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 137.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,532,030 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,300,602,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623,447 shares during the period. Signify Wealth bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 4,149 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total value of $15,498,965.02. 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 31,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total value of $15,498,965.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,504,435 shares of company stock worth $703,629,367. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $496.35.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $8.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $485.58. 15,191,214 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,907,553. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $464.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $375.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $202.54 and a 12 month high of $523.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

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.