Aprio Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 44.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,065 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during 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 period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 411,357 shares of company stock worth $249,545,428 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of META opened at $615.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $358.61 and a one year high of $638.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $593.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $553.55.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $646.90.

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.