United Asset Strategies Inc. Buys 386 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.9% of United Asset Strategies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,011,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,223,148,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,459,469 shares of company stock valued at $691,726,161. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $2.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $502.78. 3,740,589 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,063,094. The business has a 50-day moving average of $492.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $394.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid 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 yield of 0.40%. 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.