Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,079 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 802 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.9% of Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.31.

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Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $22.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $580.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,123,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,206,572. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $655.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $607.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) 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 the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.