Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Apella Capital LLC

Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,532 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $617.12 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $358.61 and a 52 week high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $595.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $554.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 495,682 shares of company stock valued at $301,101,199 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

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.