Sheets Smith Wealth Management Sells 179 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,457 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $11.54 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $463.50. 11,334,577 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,305,488. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $490.72 and a 200 day moving average of $409.58. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.27 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.52, for a total transaction of $15,737,772.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,257,876 shares of company stock valued at $613,168,252. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.80.

Meta Platforms 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.