Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s 5th Largest Position

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,688,087 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 328,358 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.8% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.11% of Meta Platforms worth $1,573,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

META stock opened at $597.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $569.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $604.14. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 owns 27,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.82, for a total transaction of $25,622,776.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 155,689 shares of company stock worth $109,097,842. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.