Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 146.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,775,909 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,054,307 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of FIL Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,039,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 381,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $234,649,678.90. This trade represents a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 534,820 shares of company stock valued at $355,819,896 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price target (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $715.57.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $516.25 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $645.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $610.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

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.