Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 34,072,026 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.6% of Norges Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Norges Bank owned 1.34% of Meta Platforms at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $625,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $25.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $576.74. 17,561,028 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,238,405. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $655.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $609.21. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current 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. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Needham & Company LLC restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $718.31.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on META
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
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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