Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,367 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.8% of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $39,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.4% in the first quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% in the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the first quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.03, for a total value of $330,378.51. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,268 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,680.04. This represents a 3.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,671,107. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $819.43.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ META opened at $673.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $673.16 and its 200 day moving average is $706.04. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

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.