Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires Shares of 82,249 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 82,249 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,158,000. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.2% of Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total transaction of $369,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. This trade represents a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $596.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $655.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $605.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

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.