Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is California Public Employees Retirement System's 7th Largest Position

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,937,618 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 242,961 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.9% of California Public Employees Retirement System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.19% of Meta Platforms worth $2,891,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $576.36. The company had a trading volume of 21,103,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,265,832. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $655.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $609.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm'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 $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 584,410 shares of company stock worth $386,031,454 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $718.55.

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.