J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires 18,744 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,941 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,744 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.8% of J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $36,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.4%

NASDAQ:META opened at $661.53 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $674.56 and its 200-day moving average is $705.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $819.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,671,107 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% 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.