Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 184,101 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,134,162 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 184,101 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.0% of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $670,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 7,308 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 18,662 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $607.60 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $658.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $603.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,576,930. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total value of $567,127.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,760,768.50. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 654,355 shares of company stock valued at $428,564,164. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

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.