Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 424,201 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.5% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,344,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV now owns 412 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $237,000. DDFG Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Tacita Capital Inc increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 463 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,720,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,019,340. The trade was a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 761,907 shares of company stock worth $496,008,888 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $625.66 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $656.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $600.95. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.