Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 901,712 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 158,250 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.6% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $527,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $625,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 20,773 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $11,891,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $9.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $585.54. The company had a trading volume of 4,736,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,230,178. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm's fifty day moving average is $654.50 and its 200 day moving average is $610.25. 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 (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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 583,505 shares of company stock valued at $385,495,911. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.