Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Clearbridge Investments LLC's 5th Largest Position

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,461,224 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 233,536 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.6% of Clearbridge Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.22% of Meta Platforms worth $3,197,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after buying an additional 110,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,649,280. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 583,505 shares of company stock worth $385,495,911. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $3.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $589.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,713,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,255,685. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $653.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $610.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.