United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Purchases 7,800 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 222,968 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 7,800 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 5.1% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $130,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in 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 buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,565,134 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,758,146,000 after purchasing an additional 289,207 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 586,213 shares of company stock worth $387,084,349 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $610.98 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $656.12 and its 200-day moving average is $608.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms 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.