Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Echo45 Advisors LLC

Echo45 Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,413 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.6% of Echo45 Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Echo45 Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price target (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $654.20.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. This represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total transaction of $22,515,282.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $647.49 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.66 and a 52-week high of $652.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $601.93 and a 200 day moving average of $560.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.