Virtue Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Virtue Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,608 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,628 shares of company stock worth $48,380,586 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Benchmark cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Pivotal Research lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $1.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $643.58. 8,849,598 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,452,422. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company's 50-day moving average is $576.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $609.77. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a PEG 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.