AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 32.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 747,689 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 361,755 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.1% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $437,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during 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 buying an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during 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 buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,101,602,000 after buying an additional 186,728 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $11.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $683.62. The stock had a trading volume of 15,609,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,750,735. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $645.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $589.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 810,217 shares of company stock valued at $523,808,864 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on META. DA Davidson increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $717.90.

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.