Waverly Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 34.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,827 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,859 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a 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 issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:META traded down $1.60 on Wednesday, reaching $635.50. 11,441,033 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,505,371. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG 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. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $573.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $608.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced 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 the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total transaction of $298,418.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,272 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,453,384. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total transaction of $324,805.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,955 shares in the company, valued at $6,882,478.75. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,161 shares of company stock worth $51,551,150 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.