Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Buys 429 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,235 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total transaction of $383,081.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,818,837.41. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,756 shares of company stock valued at $104,720,878 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $720.67 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $665.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $631.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Pivotal Research dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $724.98.

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.