Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Buys Shares of 799 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 799 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fjell Capital LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $334,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 11,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Commons Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,075,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,628 shares of company stock worth $48,380,586 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $15.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $642.32. 9,473,309 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,474,756. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $575.66 and a 200-day moving average of $609.55.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $701.05.

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.