Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Lifted by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,040,783 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,883 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.4% of Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $609,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $13,535,000. Colonial Trust Advisors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 18,439 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,796,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 374,036 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $219,011,000 after buying an additional 10,611 shares in the last quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 7,299 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, One Degree Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $167,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $708.55.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction of $7,984,944.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 381,290 shares in the company, valued at $234,649,678.90. This trade represents a 3.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 499,507 shares of company stock worth $334,165,387. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $585.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $634.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $609.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.