Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,435 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,861 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.6% of Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $60,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,344,552,000 after buying an additional 424,201 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after acquiring an additional 186,728 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $575.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,962,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,238,629. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $655.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $609.90. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. 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 equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $718.55.

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.