Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 34.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,466 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,953 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.2% of Altshuler Shaham Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Altshuler Shaham Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total transaction of $22,515,282.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,663,600. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
NASDAQ:META traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $501.48. The stock had a trading volume of 14,540,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,827,120. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $608.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $606.80. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $684.10.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms
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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