Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,459 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,417 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.4% of Wedmont Private Capital's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $26,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,751,000 after buying an additional 7,089 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 20.7% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 9,503 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the second quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the second quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 25,600 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,908,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 11,528 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,813,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $650.05.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,456,828. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 381,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $234,649,678.90. This trade represents a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 424,332 shares of company stock worth $257,530,373 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2 %
Meta Platforms stock traded down $7.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $608.33. The stock had a trading volume of 10,689,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,968,361. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $358.61 and a one year high of $638.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $594.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $554.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 9.42%.
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
As the AI market heats up, investors who have a vision for artificial intelligence have the potential to see real returns. Learn about the industry as a whole as well as seven companies that are getting work done with the power of AI.
Get This Free Report
