Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson Buys Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares

Representative Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Illinois) recently bought shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META). In a filing disclosed on January 16th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Meta Platforms stock on December 9th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “MORGAN STANLEY TRUST ACCOUNT” account.

Representative Jonathan L. Jackson also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) on 12/16/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of O’Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ:ORLY) on 12/16/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of TIM (NYSE:TIMB) on 12/9/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) on 11/27/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) on 11/27/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) on 11/13/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) on 11/13/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:REGN) on 11/1/2024.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) on 10/28/2024.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) on 10/28/2024.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $1.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $612.77. 17,239,131 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,812,479. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $596.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $556.39. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $370.95 and a twelve month high of $638.40. The company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,911,029,000 after acquiring an additional 208,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Representative Jackson

Jonathan Jackson (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Illinois’ 1st Congressional District. Jackson assumed office on January 3, 2023. Jackson’s current term ends on January 3, 2025. Jackson (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois’ 1st Congressional District. Jackson declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Jonathan Jackson was born in Chicago, Illinois. Jackson graduated from Whitney Young High School. He earned an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. Jackson’s career experience includes working as an investment analyst and an entrepreneur.

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.