Wedmont Private Capital Has $26.77 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,459 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,417 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of Wedmont Private Capital’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $26,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westmount Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 5,651 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,309,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $667,000. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 54.4% in the 4th quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 6,529 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,858,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $162,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,942 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,949 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $9.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $606.80. 7,096,824 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,426,095. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $593.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $553.55. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $358.61 and a twelve month high of $638.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total value of $571,552.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,215,915.50. This represents a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 411,357 shares of company stock worth $249,545,428 over the last three months. 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.