Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $159.84 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $159,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after acquiring an additional 249,926 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 284.0% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.15.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.3 %

META stock opened at $500.64 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $207.13 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $493.65 and its 200 day moving average is $396.70.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490 in the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is 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.