Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Boosted by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.9% of Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.67% of Meta Platforms worth $24,777,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $676.55.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % 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. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded up $14.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $547.27. The company had a trading volume of 17,064,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,720,349. The business has a 50 day moving average of $590.37 and a 200 day moving average of $604.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms's 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.