Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Increased by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 47,331 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,583 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908,251 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $593.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.50.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.6 %

META traded down $27.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $462.54. 18,049,746 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,177,461. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $493.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $469.47.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.81, for a total value of $218,693.72. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,388,160.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.81, for a total transaction of $218,693.72. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,388,160.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 308,979 shares of company stock worth $153,474,852. 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.