WBI Investments LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 60.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 548 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 849 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of META opened at $640.43 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The business's fifty day moving average is $571.79 and its 200 day moving average is $607.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $701.05.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on META
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 98,837 shares of company stock worth $64,758,661 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
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.
See Also
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Nuclear energy stocks are roaring. It's the hottest energy sector of the year. Cameco Corp, Paladin Energy, and BWX Technologies were all up more than 40% in 2024. The biggest market moves could still be ahead of us, and there are seven nuclear energy stocks that could rise much higher in the next several months. To unlock these tickers, enter your email address below.
Get This Free Report
