Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ 7th Largest Position

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.3% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 927,491 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $11,285,855,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.75, for a total value of $238,507.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,166,093.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.75, for a total transaction of $238,507.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,166,093.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 233,512 shares of company stock worth $113,597,536 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $519.92. 1,881,092 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,332,183. 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 fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $479.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $452.69. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.