Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Raised by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,792 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,832 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of World Investment Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $42,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,188,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Miura Global Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 175.0% during the 3rd quarter. Miura Global Management LLC now owns 22,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,594,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the third quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 12,950 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,413,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. UBS Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued 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 $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $26.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $504.73. 38,506,424 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,475,943. The company's 50 day moving average price is $651.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $609.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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.

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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 549,113 shares of company stock valued at $364,668,246 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.