Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. Purchases New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,436 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $2,012,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2%

Meta Platforms stock traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $643.58. The company had a trading volume of 8,867,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,452,485. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $576.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $609.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08% 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total value of $409,767.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,662 shares in the company, valued at $5,837,841.52. This trade represents a 6.56% 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 valued at $48,380,586 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.