Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 36.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,137 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,485 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $51,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,011,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,143,462 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,945,799,000 after acquiring an additional 111,735 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 65,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.50, for a total value of $26,272,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $229.85 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

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.