Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Argus Investors Counsel Inc.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.8% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donoghue Forlines LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 400.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signify Wealth purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $535,549.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,130,103.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 918,449 shares of company stock valued at $454,175,035. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial cut their target price 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. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research 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 MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $465.78. The company had a trading volume of 11,731,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,531,096. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $244.95 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $484.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

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.