Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Cuts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 609,387 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 14,679 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 3.6% of Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $356,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 2,072 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 197,650 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $115,732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,768 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 129.7% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 186,369 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $109,121,000 after acquiring an additional 105,231 shares during the period. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,215 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,053,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.1 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $20.51 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $520.79. 18,129,972 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,806,017. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $605.69. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company earned $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $676.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total value of $602,730.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,510,470. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 342,662 shares of company stock valued at $237,476,709 over the last quarter. 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.