Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Lowered by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,288,869 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 258,671 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.6% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.13% of Meta Platforms worth $1,164,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 3,318 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,873,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,725,147,000 after purchasing an additional 309,497 shares during the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 20,990 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,430,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 85.3% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 58,474 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,697,000 after purchasing an additional 26,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 8,543 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,024,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $0.66 on Monday, reaching $481.73. The stock had a trading volume of 17,232,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,160,061. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $207.13 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $494.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $401.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, 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 transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total value of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,392,501 shares of company stock valued at $666,506,318. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.28.

Meta Platforms 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.