EP Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New $241,000 Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,163 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,934,920 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,413,027,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,997 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $5,424,543,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,803,774 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,859,893,000 after acquiring an additional 6,735,038 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,223,148,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,072,543,000. 62.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $302.55 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $778.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.09 and a 1-year high of $326.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The social networking company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.91 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 21.72%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 13.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Meta Platforms from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $220.00 to $345.00 in a report on Thursday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $320.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $300.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, forty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.34, for a total value of $205,247.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,680 shares in the company, valued at $11,542,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.34, for a total value of $205,247.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,542,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.00, for a total transaction of $1,253,161.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,277,394. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,457 shares of company stock valued at $12,273,577 in the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.