Vance Wealth Inc. Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Vance Wealth Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Vance Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 target price (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $1.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.85 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $404.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.