Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,489,621 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 262,550 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.8% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,694,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $823.93.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.54, for a total transaction of $309,445.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,785 shares in the company, valued at $8,849,413.90. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 40,923 shares of company stock valued at $26,007,416 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of META opened at $647.10 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $678.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $706.59. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

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.