Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,333,503 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 429,815 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.8% of Janus Henderson Group PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.37% of Meta Platforms worth $5,465,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,689 shares of company stock worth $109,097,842 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $592.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $568.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $604.50. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $696.45.

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.