Investors Research Corp Has $1.23 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Investors Research Corp trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,292 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,223,148,000. Morgan Stanley acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $4,072,543,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,796,633,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,731,491,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.28.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,459,469 shares of company stock valued at $691,726,161 in the last ninety days. 14.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $500.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $207.13 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $492.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $394.61.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

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.