Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC Makes New $1.77 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,768,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after purchasing an additional 186,728 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $616.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $381.16 and a one year high of $638.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $598.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $558.31.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $651.27.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,531.12. The trade was a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 531,190 shares of company stock valued at $322,938,501 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.