Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Segment Wealth Management LLC

Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,611 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after purchasing an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,016 shares of company stock worth $346,031,180 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $636.45 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $385.66 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $600.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $559.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their target price 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. 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.20.

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.