Whelan Financial Purchases 508 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whelan Financial raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,931 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.7% of Whelan Financial’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Whelan Financial’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $640.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $571.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $607.61.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,837 shares of company stock valued at $64,758,661. Corporate 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.