Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $14.78 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,748 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,372 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on META shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7 %

META stock traded down $8.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $468.01. The company had a trading volume of 14,642,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,008,635. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $235.33 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $488.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $415.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.83, for a total value of $16,298,804.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total value of $268,606.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.83, for a total transaction of $16,298,804.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,092,501 shares of company stock valued at $535,778,532 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.

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