Stifel Financial Corp Has $742.21 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,267,550 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,188 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.8% of Stifel Financial Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.05% of Meta Platforms worth $742,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $676.55.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $14.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $548.05. 12,625,036 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,704,071. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $590.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $604.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

About Meta Platforms

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.