Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 34.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $885,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signify Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $269,000. Finally, AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the third quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 4,149 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.35.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,502,805 shares of company stock valued at $703,056,383 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $497.37 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $207.13 and a one year high of $523.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $473.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $381.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Meta Platforms 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.