Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 55.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,980 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,370 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, VeraBank N.A. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $21.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $580.87. 8,123,490 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,206,373. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $655.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $607.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.31.

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.