River Global Investors LLP Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

River Global Investors LLP trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 42.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,408 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 10,585 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.6% of River Global Investors LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,546,130.40. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total value of $22,351,483.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 725,689 shares of company stock valued at $473,072,897 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $619.56 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $658.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $602.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results 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 in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

About Meta Platforms

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.