Ashburton Jersey Ltd Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,996 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,511,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.5% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,344,552,000 after acquiring an additional 424,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $5.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $510.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,776,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,526,506. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $645.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $610.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 381,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $234,649,678.90. This trade represents a 3.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 534,820 shares of company stock valued at $355,819,896. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $790.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $713.07.

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.