Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,805 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,567 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 5.0% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $95,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
NASDAQ META traded down $3.33 on Tuesday, hitting $637.10. The stock had a trading volume of 6,716,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,506,492. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $572.72 and a 200-day moving average of $607.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. 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 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Insider Activity
In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the 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 owns 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,855,043.68. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,837 shares of company stock worth $64,758,661. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $701.05.
Read Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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