617 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Acquired by ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc.

ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 617 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000. Meta Platforms makes up 0.1% of ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,751,000 after buying an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.8% during the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,210 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,703,000 after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 28.2% during the second quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 4,719 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 22,919 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,556,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $222,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,172,468.33. The trade was a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 326,624 shares of company stock worth $197,875,975 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $25.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $630.20. The stock had a trading volume of 14,311,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,810,251. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $589.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $549.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $352.05 and a 1-year high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.