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

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 about 1.8% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.58% of Meta Platforms worth $10,694,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after buying an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $37,902,948,000 after buying an additional 682,768 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after buying an additional 400,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. 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. Citigroup cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $850.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $823.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. The trade was a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 40,923 shares of company stock valued at $26,007,416 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $647.10 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.28. 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 fifty day moving average price of $678.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $706.59.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Meta Platforms Company 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.