US Asset Management LLC Invests $2.32 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 6,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. Meta Platforms makes up 2.3% of US Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908,251 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 55.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,632,631 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,591,602,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093,715 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,457.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,156,360 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,117,225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.08, for a total transaction of $45,253,105.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,126,899 shares of company stock worth $552,059,793. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $475.05. The stock had a trading volume of 6,204,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,991,723. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.45 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $489.50 and a 200 day moving average of $412.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 EPS for the current year.

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.