Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 62.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,832 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 61,913 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after purchasing an additional 249,926 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,439,788 shares of company stock worth $684,542,792. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.28.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ META opened at $499.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $493.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $396.01. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

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.