Atlas Brown Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Atlas Brown Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,864 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.2% of Atlas Brown Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Atlas Brown Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value of $21,951,323.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 410,536 shares of company stock worth $249,024,275. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $6.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $616.83. 16,533,549 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,734,100. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $592.65 and its 200 day moving average is $552.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $358.61 and a 52-week high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.90.

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.