JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd Purchases 2,300 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 54.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,529 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $14.68 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $601.18. The stock had a trading volume of 5,441,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,157,732. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $358.61 and a one year high of $638.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $593.63 and a 200 day moving average of $553.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $647.98.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,641,281.24. This trade represents a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 411,357 shares of company stock valued at $249,545,428. 13.71% of the stock is currently 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.