Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Thompson Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,342 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 385 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after purchasing an additional 112,047 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 716,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $410,352,000 after purchasing an additional 14,754 shares in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.5% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 1,443 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.0% in the third quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beech Hill Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the third quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 17,528 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,034,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $736.67 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $638.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $582.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $717.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total transaction of $14,194,198.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total transaction of $10,320,386.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,888,979.95. The trade was a 28.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 793,070 shares of company stock worth $504,185,108 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.