Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Trimmed by Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc.

Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 870 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,011,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,143,462 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,945,799,000 after acquiring an additional 111,735 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

META stock traded up $10.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $451.96. 16,474,126 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,392,596. The company has a market cap of $1.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $491.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $407.43. 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 $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,853,952. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,168 shares in the company, valued at $15,853,952. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,257,876 shares of company stock valued at $613,168,252 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.