WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,669 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vantage Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rollins Financial lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after buying an additional 2,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total value of $4,908,011.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 247,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,669,016.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total value of $4,908,011.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $561.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $507.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $497.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $564.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.