Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 799 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $644.35. 5,643,457 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,435,939. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $577.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $610.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.50, for a total transaction of $329,824.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,535,270. The trade was a 1.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,628 shares of company stock worth $34,826,386. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms 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.