Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Lifted by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,226,860 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,633 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.9% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $718,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $681.95.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $4.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $554.44. 11,740,531 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,338,952. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $583.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $604.40. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $427.11 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 284,384 shares of company stock valued at $199,598,622. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.