Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Herold Advisors Inc.

Herold Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,165 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $443.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $404.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $229.85 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Corporate insiders own 13.75% 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.