Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.'s 9th Largest Position

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 405,389 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,078 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.6% of Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $237,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,663,794 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $974,168,000 after purchasing an additional 82,981 shares during the last quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 770 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $268,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $560,000. Finally, 1ST Source Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 5,341 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.9 %

META traded up $23.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $619.55. 15,714,384 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,812,127. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year 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's fifty day moving average price is $655.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $606.39. The company has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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 boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,269,825.75. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 622,431 shares of company stock valued at $408,968,491. Corporate 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.