Rakuten Securities Inc. Takes $2.51 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,100 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,513,000. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.0% of Rakuten Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Goodman Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,295 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 10,813 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,827,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC now owns 2,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,004,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $9.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $489.80. 5,826,796 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,992,504. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $207.13 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $493.16 and a 200 day moving average of $396.01. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.34, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.28.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,439,788 shares of company stock worth $684,542,792 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

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.