Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,397 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.9% of Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Citigroup raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,391,935 shares of company stock valued at $666,288,408. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $14.94 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $496.67. 11,876,079 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,088,047. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $494.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $401.23. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

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.