Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,541 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,588 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $412,606,000 after acquiring an additional 91,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total transaction of $22,133,083.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 495,682 shares of company stock valued at $301,101,199. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.8 %

META opened at $617.12 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $595.02 and its 200-day moving average is $554.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $358.61 and a one year high of $638.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders 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 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.05.

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.