Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,468 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.3% of Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. OLIO Financial Planning purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $319,000. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 3,036 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 17,953 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,512,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. MKT Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 769 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M3 Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,842,668.52. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 661,312 shares of company stock valued at $407,377,422 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $12.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $689.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,861,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,245,674. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $710.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $608.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $563.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $698.98.

Meta Platforms 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.