Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC Purchases Shares of 10,696 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,696 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $6,263,000. Meta Platforms comprises 1.5% of Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,663,600. This trade represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $255,234.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,275 shares in the company, valued at $10,057,950. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 414,901 shares of company stock worth $282,367,368. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

META stock traded up $4.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $506.98. 9,937,696 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,799,612. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $616.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $607.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Meta Platforms 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.