Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Boosted by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,222 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $1.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $229.85 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

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.