Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 369 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.35.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $8.28 on Thursday, reaching $485.58. The stock had a trading volume of 15,191,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,907,553. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $464.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $375.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $202.54 and a fifty-two week high of $523.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.47, for a total transaction of $6,917,281.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $295,594.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,993,314.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.47, for a total transaction of $6,917,281.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,504,435 shares of company stock valued at $703,629,367. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company 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.