Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is DnB Asset Management AS's 6th Largest Position

DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,554,033 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,509 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.9% of DnB Asset Management AS's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. DnB Asset Management AS owned about 0.06% of Meta Platforms worth $909,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $625,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $770.00 price target (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $1.62 during trading on Monday, reaching $575.12. 14,540,553 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,241,163. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company's 50-day moving average is $655.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $609.90.

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, 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 previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, 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 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.