Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.21 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,091 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $712.20 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $625.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $624.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $700.38, for a total transaction of $350,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,615,645.22. This represents a 0.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,002 shares of company stock worth $73,353,340. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $712.69.

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.