Steele Capital Management Inc. Makes New $793,000 Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,240 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $793,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fernwood Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Fernwood Investment Management LLC now owns 21,389 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,571,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 3,830 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,356,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 17,083 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 5,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,100,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $10.67 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $432.62. The company had a trading volume of 21,472,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,429,988. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $494.48 and a 200-day moving average of $405.39.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,924,027.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock worth $620,679,759. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.