Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,139 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,354 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.5% of Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $2.60 on Wednesday, hitting $493.50. 36,273,029 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,341,254. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $403.14. The company has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.