LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 796 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $646.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.9 %

META stock traded up $17.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $628.32. The company had a trading volume of 12,017,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,943,984. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $358.61 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $592.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $552.16.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 410,536 shares of company stock valued at $249,024,275 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.