Causeway Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Causeway Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,561 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,375 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.3% of Causeway Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Causeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $58,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,943,062.60. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 451,119 shares of company stock worth $304,709,239. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.38.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

META stock opened at $543.57 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $628.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $609.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.