Morton Capital Management LLC CA Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,974 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $8.28 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $485.58. 15,065,610 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,905,725. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $464.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $375.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market cap of $1.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $202.54 and a 12 month high of $523.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on META. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $414.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $513.32, for a total transaction of $251,526.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,148,086.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,504,435 shares of company stock valued at $703,629,367. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.