Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 2,372 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,942 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,372 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $70,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,823,375,000 after acquiring an additional 278,180 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,597,374,000 after acquiring an additional 142,229 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,525,258,000 after acquiring an additional 558,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,619,341 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,001,772,000 after acquiring an additional 481,276 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This represents a 16.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 160,931 shares of company stock worth $102,997,526 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus restated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $856.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $843.57.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of META opened at $573.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $635.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $657.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.