Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Wright Investors Service Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,451 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.9% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Edge Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $17.28 during trading on Thursday, hitting $511.45. 6,233,345 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,931,227. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 1.28 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $207.13 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $493.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $396.70.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

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.