Kovack Advisors Inc. Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,073 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 4th 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. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $958,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,053 shares in the company, valued at $4,757,883.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $443.29. The company had a trading volume of 32,645,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,391,986. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $494.48 and a 200-day moving average of $404.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. 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 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.