Garde Capital Inc. Acquires 749 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Garde Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,320 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Instrumental Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Instrumental Wealth LLC now owns 1,190 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $2,012,000. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $1,833,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 45,746 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,785,000 after acquiring an additional 4,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $6,222,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $1.26 on Wednesday, hitting $643.58. The company had a trading volume of 8,867,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,452,485. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $576.79 and a 200-day moving average of $609.77.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.50, for a total value of $329,824.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,740 shares in the company, valued at $19,535,270. This represents a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,628 shares of company stock worth $48,380,586 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently 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.