Ninety One UK Ltd Purchases 11,894 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 242,720 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,894 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $142,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total transaction of $635,527.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,936,593.60. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $696.23, for a total transaction of $9,033,584.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 197,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,850,755.08. The trade was a 6.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 701,146 shares of company stock valued at $435,387,895 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $714.52 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $725.01. The company has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $627.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $575.09.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

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.