Opes Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Opes Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,123 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $263,000. Fonville Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $304,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,750 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,929,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gray Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $250,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $12.66 on Friday, reaching $489.14. 7,468,667 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,915,494. The company has a market cap of $1.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $494.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $397.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $207.13 and a 1 year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.54, for a total transaction of $7,568,131.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

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.