Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by HBW Advisory Services LLC

HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 60.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,395 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,932 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of HBW Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $12.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $623.21. 14,627,602 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,528,432. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $592.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $552.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $358.61 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total transaction of $22,746,973.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 410,536 shares of company stock worth $249,024,275. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.