DSM Capital Partners LLC Sells 45,389 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

DSM Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 775,398 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 45,389 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 7.0% of DSM Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. DSM Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $454,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $657.50 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $648.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $594.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

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 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 last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total transaction of $2,469,975.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock valued at $525,534,818. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.