Howe & Rusling Inc. Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,402 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 477,071 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $143,222,000 after acquiring an additional 8,021 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 16,602 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,984,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 1,688 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,020 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.6 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $11.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $441.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,055,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,396,611. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $492.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $406.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,257,291 shares of company stock worth $612,916,087. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.55.

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.