Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Decreased by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 901,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 158,250 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.6% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $527,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,318,548.24. This represents a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $655.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $608.48. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio 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.