Franklin Resources Inc. Has $4.80 Billion Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,190,757 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,244,002 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.32% of Meta Platforms worth $4,795,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during 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 holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $3,908,382,000 after buying an additional 110,040 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Meta Platforms Stock Down 6.0 %

META traded down $35.30 on Thursday, hitting $548.63. 20,256,497 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,315,230. The stock's fifty day moving average is $653.10 and its 200-day moving average is $610.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. This is an increase 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 presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 584,113 shares of company stock valued at $385,838,234 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.55.

About Meta Platforms

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.