Fernwood Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 21,389 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.9% of Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $10.67 during trading on Monday, reaching $432.62. The stock had a trading volume of 21,472,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,429,988. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $494.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $405.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $229.85 and a one year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.