Pitcairn Co. Purchases 1,348 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Pitcairn Co. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,078 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of Pitcairn Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Pitcairn Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total transaction of $571,552.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,215,915.50. The trade was a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 585,034 shares of company stock valued at $386,363,811. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $52.31 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $531.62. The company had a trading volume of 34,640,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,380,193. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $651.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $609.95. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.