Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,788 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,101,602,000 after purchasing an additional 186,728 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,842,668.52. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $11.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $647.49. 19,039,689 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,840,293. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.66 and a 52-week high of $652.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $601.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $560.51.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.20.

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.