45,573 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Acquired by CCM Investment Advisers LLC

CCM Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 45,573 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,131,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.0% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in 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. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,469,906,000 after purchasing an additional 927,491 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price target (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $504.16. The stock had a trading volume of 10,243,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,607,878. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $480.39 and a 200-day moving average of $442.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $271.42 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during 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 anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.37, for a total transaction of $15,506,208.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 437,528 shares of company stock valued at $215,768,262. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms 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.