Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Has $17.17 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,256 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,266 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Myecfo LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the second quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 776 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,857,980.20. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,578,191 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on META. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research cut Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $819.46.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ META opened at $644.23 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $665.92 and a 200-day moving average of $707.24. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.35 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, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend 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.