Catalyst Private Wealth LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Catalyst Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.3% of Catalyst Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Catalyst Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after purchasing an additional 5,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $412,606,000 after purchasing an additional 91,773 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $608.33 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $358.61 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $594.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $554.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 423,427 shares of company stock valued at $256,996,450 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.