EWG Elevate Inc. Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

EWG Elevate Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the quarter. EWG Elevate Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,911,029,000 after acquiring an additional 208,677 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $608.33 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $358.61 and a 52 week high of $638.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $594.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $554.18. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction of $7,984,944.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 381,290 shares in the company, valued at $234,649,678.90. This trade represents a 3.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 423,427 shares of company stock worth $256,996,450 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.