Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,728,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,882,116 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.1% of Legal & General Group Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,038,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction of $7,984,944.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 381,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,649,678.90. This represents a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at $17,268,742.26. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 535,725 shares of company stock valued at $356,391,449. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $504.73 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $648.15 and a 200-day moving average of $610.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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 given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

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.