Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Wright Investors Service Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Wright Investors Service Inc. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,821 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,679 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.8% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.1% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,089 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 31.0% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. RS Crum Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the second quarter. RS Crum Inc. now owns 1,062 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the second quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 52.1% during the second quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,251 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 381,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,649,678.90. This represents a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,456,828. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 423,427 shares of company stock valued at $256,996,450. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $594.25 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $358.61 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $595.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $554.81. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.