Annex Advisory Services LLC Buys 13,538 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 83,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,538 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.5% of Annex Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 661,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of META opened at $616.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $381.16 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $598.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $558.31. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 531,190 shares of company stock worth $322,938,501. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $651.27.

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.