Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Sovereign Financial Group Inc.

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,817 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Blue Barn Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $394,000. Simmons Bank boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 29,998 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 987 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $862,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,324,745 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,716,427,000 after acquiring an additional 181,283 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $4.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $472.60. The company had a trading volume of 11,648,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,223,398. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.72 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $490.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.78.

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 the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,223,416 shares of company stock worth $597,392,856 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price objective (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.80.

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.