Winslow Capital Management LLC Sells 149,438 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Winslow Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,414,672 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 149,438 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 5.0% of Winslow Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Winslow Capital Management LLC owned 0.10% of Meta Platforms worth $1,413,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after buying an additional 110,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $2.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $543.57. 17,619,060 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,776,515. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $628.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $609.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

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, 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total value of $500,462.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,340 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,943,062.60. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 487,453 shares of company stock worth $326,680,904. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on META. DA Davidson raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. 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 equities 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 company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.38.

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.