Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Qtron Investments LLC's 6th Largest Position

Qtron Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of 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 Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,256 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 549 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.2% of Qtron Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Qtron Investments LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $12.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $531.48. The stock had a trading volume of 14,102,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,773,940. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $628.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $609.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 451,119 shares of company stock valued at $304,709,239. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $692.93.

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.