Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 736,100 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,700 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $430,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.9 %

META traded up $23.30 on Monday, hitting $619.55. The company had a trading volume of 15,714,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,812,127. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $655.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $606.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total transaction of $545,235.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,375,535.40. This trade represents a 2.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 622,431 shares of company stock worth $408,968,491 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.