Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Trimmed by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,163,654 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 97,090 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.7% of Prudential Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of Meta Platforms worth $1,266,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.31.

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Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $21.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $580.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,123,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,206,373. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $655.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $607.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.