WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,267 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $730,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during 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 increased its holdings 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 valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total transaction of $370,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,904,886. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,171 shares of company stock valued at $35,163,457 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $697.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $587.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $615.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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 analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on META shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research reduced their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Company 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.

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