MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 673,831 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.1% of MetLife Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $394,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Natixis lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 827,526 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $484,525,000 after acquiring an additional 212,861 shares during the last quarter. NWK Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. NWK Group Inc. now owns 12,096 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,082,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Ostrum Asset Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,007,000. Ossiam raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 4,111 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 103,207 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $60,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,996 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 379,901 shares of company stock worth $260,806,516. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %
NASDAQ META opened at $501.48 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $608.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $606.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors 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 0.42%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $684.10.
View Our Latest Stock 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.
Read More
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Nuclear energy stocks are roaring. It's the hottest energy sector of the year. Cameco Corp, Paladin Energy, and BWX Technologies were all up more than 40% in 2024. The biggest market moves could still be ahead of us, and there are seven nuclear energy stocks that could rise much higher in the next several months. To unlock these tickers, enter your email address below.
Get This Free Report
