Perpetual Ltd Increases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,725 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after acquiring an additional 661,923 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $255,234.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 16,275 shares in the company, valued at $10,057,950. This represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,016 shares of company stock worth $346,031,180 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $636.45 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $385.66 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $600.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $559.30. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.