Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.75 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.8% of Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $1.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $494.48 and its 200 day moving average is $404.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $229.85 and a one year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last quarter. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.