Maj Invest Holding A S Sells 31,464 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Maj Invest Holding A S reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 220,378 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 31,464 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 4.2% of Maj Invest Holding A S’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Maj Invest Holding A S’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $129,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,559,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 208.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 259 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 1,077 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 127.4% in the second quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,797,000 after buying an additional 3,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $529,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

META stock opened at $676.49 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $387.10 and a fifty-two week high of $682.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $608.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $563.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,842,668.52. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.41.

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.