Wedmont Private Capital Acquires 3,006 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 41,042 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 3,006 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.4% of Wedmont Private Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $595,152,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $515,383,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 14,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.38, for a total transaction of $7,487,274.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 135,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,178,793.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 266,412 shares of company stock valued at $140,058,708 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $660.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $647.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $605.33.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $590.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $534.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $504.36.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.