Marietta Wealth Management LLC Has $7.11 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Marietta Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,096 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 644 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after acquiring an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 284.0% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $502.09. The stock had a trading volume of 4,589,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,071,977. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $394.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.13 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total transaction of $7,183,368.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total value of $7,183,368.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,459,469 shares of company stock worth $691,726,161. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.28.

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.