Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by ESG Planning

ESG Planning lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,487 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.9% of ESG Planning’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. ESG Planning’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $14.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $508.84. The stock had a trading volume of 4,631,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,902,320. The company’s fifty day moving average is $493.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $396.70. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.90, for a total transaction of $3,500,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,086,721.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.15.

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.