Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Raised by Charles Schwab Trust Co

Charles Schwab Trust Co lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,289 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $13,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,938,574 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $977,468,000 after purchasing an additional 7,539 shares in the last quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $352,000. Unisphere Establishment lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 235.0% in the second quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 33,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,891,000 after purchasing an additional 23,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wick Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the second quarter. Wick Capital Partners LLC now owns 598 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ META opened at $636.45 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $385.66 and a 52 week high of $638.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $600.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $559.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 target price (up previously from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $654.20.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,842,668.52. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.