Prudential PLC lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,983 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 16,661 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.5% of Prudential PLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Prudential PLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $96,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
META traded down $26.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $504.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,506,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,428,284. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $648.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $609.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. 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. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.55.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
About Meta Platforms
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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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