Consolidated Planning Corp Acquires 308 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,744 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 worth $55,011,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 946,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 111,735 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $1.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $443.29. The stock had a trading volume of 32,645,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $494.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $404.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $958,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,757,883.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Citigroup dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

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.