Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Smith Salley Wealth Management’s 6th Largest Position

Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,782 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,522 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.9% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $44,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,230 shares of company stock valued at $132,784,843 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $621.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of META stock opened at $593.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $553.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $511.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $296.86 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.