Verus Financial Partners Inc. Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 612 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908,251 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 55.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,632,631 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,591,602,000 after buying an additional 3,093,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,457.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,156,360 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,117,225,000 after buying an additional 2,953,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $2.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $474.77. The stock had a trading volume of 4,545,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,069,059. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.72 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $489.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $412.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BNP Paribas began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.80.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $445.93, for a total transaction of $218,505.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,109 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,186.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,223,416 shares of company stock worth $597,392,856 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.