Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 387 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,977 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after purchasing an additional 661,923 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total transaction of $571,552.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,215,915.50. This trade represents a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 602,612 shares of company stock valued at $368,414,542. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $674.33 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $606.30 and its 200 day moving average is $562.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $387.10 and a 52-week high of $682.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price target (up previously from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.20.

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.