Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Takes $51,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 144 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $2.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $493.50. 36,273,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,341,254. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $495.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $403.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.28.

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.