Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Increased by Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 37.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 351,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.8% of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $205,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $504.73 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $648.15 and a 200-day moving average of $609.75. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. This is a boost 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 presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.55.

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.