Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,514 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.1% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.5% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.6 %

META stock opened at $547.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $587.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $604.44. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $427.11 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target 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, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $679.02.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total transaction of $259,194.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,862 shares in the company, valued at $9,954,832.58. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.