Financial Counselors Inc. Has $35.19 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,430 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,874 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,223,148,000. Morgan Stanley acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,072,543,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,796,633,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,731,491,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.75.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $523.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $490.71 and its 200 day moving average is $390.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.13 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,460,035 shares of company stock worth $691,937,607. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.