McCarthy Asset Management Inc. Buys 140 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

McCarthy Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,438 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.3% of McCarthy Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. McCarthy Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edge Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the fourth 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. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $1.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $229.85 and a 52-week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were 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 available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.