Avanza Fonder AB Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 149,694 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $87,647,000. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.6% of Avanza Fonder AB's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,199,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total transaction of $547,108.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,804,216.70. The trade was a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 496,174 shares of company stock worth $301,408,499 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

META stock traded up $1.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $612.77. 17,239,131 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,812,479. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $596.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $556.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $370.95 and a 12-month high of $638.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business 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 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.