UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 616,743 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,412 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.6% of UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $361,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %
Meta Platforms stock traded down $25.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $576.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,561,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,238,405. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $655.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $609.21.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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 prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. 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 payout ratio is presently 8.78%.
Insider Activity
In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were 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 directly owns 32,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.31.
View Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Profile
(
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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