Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 652,767 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,752 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.2% of Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $382,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,954,832.58. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $679.02.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $14.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $547.27. 17,064,639 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,374,342. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $427.11 and a 1-year high of $740.91. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $587.00 and a 200 day moving average of $604.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.