Lafayette Investments Inc. Acquires 262 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 262 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.5% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total value of $500,462.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,943,062.60. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 450,214 shares of company stock worth $304,162,130. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $531.48 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $624.88 and a 200-day moving average of $609.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. 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. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $692.93.

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.