DE Burlo Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

DE Burlo Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,720 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.9% of DE Burlo Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. DE Burlo Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,954,832.58. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $547.27 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $587.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $604.44. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $427.11 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $679.02.

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.