Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,908,954 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 316,377 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 8.2% of Axiom Investors LLC DE's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned about 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,117,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 93,014 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $54,461,000 after purchasing an additional 6,370 shares during the last quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,610 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,285,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $361,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 227,738 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $133,343,000 after purchasing an additional 31,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $3,864,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $718.55.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,467,522.10. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 583,505 shares of company stock valued at $385,495,911 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %
META traded up $9.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $586.00. 12,803,334 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,260,185. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $654.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $610.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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 period last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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