54,665 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Bought by Ostrum Asset Management

Ostrum Asset Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 54,665 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $32,007,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.8% of Ostrum Asset Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,908,382,000 after purchasing an additional 110,040 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $676.55.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $10.40 on Thursday, reaching $530.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,495,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,773,675. The firm's 50 day moving average is $594.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $605.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,954,832.58. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 343,068 shares of company stock worth $237,676,335. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms 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.