iA Global Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 319,698 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 23,669 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.3% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $187,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.4 %
Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $15.33 on Wednesday, hitting $610.98. The stock had a trading volume of 12,592,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,819,907. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $656.24 and a 200 day moving average of $608.00.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company's 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 $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 585,605 shares of company stock worth $386,710,448 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.31.
Get Our Latest Report on META
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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.
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