HCR Wealth Advisors Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

HCR Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,202 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.3% of HCR Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sendero Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,117 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,364,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Brave Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Brave Asset Management Inc. now owns 868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 9,288 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 230 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $611.30 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $358.61 and a twelve month high of $638.40. 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 $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $595.92 and its 200 day moving average is $555.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 496,174 shares of company stock worth $301,408,499. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

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.