Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Increased by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 105.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,375 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 5,840 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.8% of State of Wyoming’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Stonebrook Private Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 5,279 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,091,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC now owns 21,263 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,450,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 5,426 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,678 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $1,218,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus set a $775.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Pivotal Research lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $640.34 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $571.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $606.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $677,920.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,341,737.09. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,852 shares of company stock worth $41,665,958. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.