Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 463,534 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 12,060 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.7% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $271,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on META. Barclays increased 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. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $718.31.

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Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $15.33 on Wednesday, reaching $610.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,592,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,819,907. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $656.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $608.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total transaction of $1,387,085.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 585,605 shares of company stock valued at $386,710,448 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.