Gray Wealth Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Gray Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 707 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of META stock traded down $12.00 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $489.80. 4,923,158 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,882,270. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.13 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $494.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $397.43.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total transaction of $217,910.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,585,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550 in the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.