Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Raised by Principle Wealth Partners LLC

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,104 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,183 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 2,904 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $872,000 after buying an additional 946 shares during the period. Financial & Tax Architects LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $850,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. WS Portfolio Advisory LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. WS Portfolio Advisory LLC now owns 55,249 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,586,000 after buying an additional 20,093 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 691,723 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $207,662,000 after buying an additional 17,853 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $1.91 on Friday, hitting $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $404.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

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.