Savant Capital LLC Buys 4,804 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,306 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,804 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $428.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $492.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $406.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.52, for a total transaction of $15,737,772.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,853,952. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.52, for a total transaction of $15,737,772.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,257,291 shares of company stock worth $612,916,087 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.