IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Buys 3,676 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 254.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,119 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,676 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 40,744 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,856,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $980,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 174,315 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $102,063,000 after purchasing an additional 4,747 shares during the period. BIT Capital GmbH raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. BIT Capital GmbH now owns 77,553 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $45,408,000 after buying an additional 23,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 616,743 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $361,109,000 after buying an additional 26,412 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %

META traded down $25.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $576.74. The stock had a trading volume of 17,561,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,238,405. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $655.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $609.21.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research increased their price target 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. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.31.

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.