Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.9% of Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.67% of Meta Platforms worth $24,777,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,344,552,000 after buying an additional 424,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $681.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total transaction of $602,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,510,470. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 342,662 shares of company stock worth $237,476,709. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $500.28 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $605.69. 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 cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 period last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

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.