B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 15,838 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 188,036 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 15,838 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.1% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $110,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Seven Mile Advisory raised its position in Meta Platforms by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,162 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,022,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 3,002 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,758,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 119,431 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $69,928,000 after buying an additional 11,578 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 1,908,954 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,117,712,000 after buying an additional 316,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 93,014 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $54,461,000 after acquiring an additional 6,370 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $35.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $548.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,256,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,279,599. The company has a 50-day moving average of $653.10 and a 200-day moving average of $610.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month 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 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm'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 $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 584,113 shares of company stock worth $385,838,234 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.