Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $507.88 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 867,401 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 99,908 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.3% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $507,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 702.9% during the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 9,378 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after buying an additional 8,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 62,310 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $35,669,000 after buying an additional 2,772 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $607.60 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $658.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $602.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at $19,607,740.16. This represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total value of $260,008.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,546,130.40. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 690,689 shares of company stock worth $451,269,409. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.