Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Increased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,583,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 248,856 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.1% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,166,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 22.2% in 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 during the period. Blue Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,784,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 71,472 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,205,164.86. This trade represents a 8.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4 %

META stock opened at $602.58 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $655.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $607.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.